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parvenu

[pahr-vuh-noo, -nyoo, pahr-vuh-noo, -nyoo] / ˈpɑr vəˌnu, -ˌnyu, ˌpɑr vəˈnu, -ˈnyu /
NOUN
newly rich
Synonyms


NOUN
upstart
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Chenoweth, who is as gleaming as a holiday ornament on Liberace’s Christmas tree, arrives at a canny balance of quixotic generosity and parvenu carelessness in her portrayal of a woman she refuses to lampoon.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 9, 2025

But Corya is no vulgar, narcissistic bully and parvenu.

From Slate • May 21, 2020

His mother, “born of samurai stock” and married to “a parvenu beneath herself,” succumbed to mental illness six months after Ryunosuke’s birth.

From New York Times • Oct. 12, 2018

Just as the parvenu tries to elevate himself into a higher social realm, the word climber wishes to seem more intelligent than he actually is.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 13, 2017

Eugene, for whom this rosary of parvenu platitudes becomes too long, murmurs: "Shall we not soon have paid sufficient thanks for the honor of being allied with Baron Lanzberg?"

From Felix Lanzberg's Expiation by Schubin, Ossip




Vocabulary lists containing parvenu


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