as in arriviste
one who has recently acquired wealth and social position
the kind of trophy house that a parvenu buys to prove to people, and to himself, that he has indeed arrived
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Examples of parvenu in a Sentence
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In 1952, backed by little more than his reputation as a war hero and a fortune staked by his parvenu father, 35-year-old John F. Kennedy swiped a Senate seat from Republican Henry Cabot Lodge, himself a wealthy combat veteran.
—
Kevin Mahnken, The New Republic, 1 Sep. 2020
Raveendran, at least on paper, assumes his place among those parvenus thanks to his effort in internet education.
—Saritha Rai, Fortune, 29 July 2019
Well, rejecting the pretensions of the peacocking parvenu is one of the sweetest pleasures left to the fallen aristocrat.
—Lili Anolik, Vanities, 19 June 2017
Kevin Mahnken, The New Republic, 1 Sep. 2020
Raveendran, at least on paper, assumes his place among those parvenus thanks to his effort in internet education.
—Saritha Rai, Fortune, 29 July 2019
Well, rejecting the pretensions of the peacocking parvenu is one of the sweetest pleasures left to the fallen aristocrat.
—Lili Anolik, Vanities, 19 June 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'parvenu.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Parvenu.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/parvenu. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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