parvenu

Borrowed from French parvenu, past participle of parvenir, from Latin perveniō (“arrive, reach”).

See also parvenue f. Parvenu/parvenue is one of the few words in English which has two forms distinguished according to gender.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑː.və.njuː/, /ˈpɑː.və.nuː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑɹ.və.nju/, /ˈpɑɹ.və.nu/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  ,

  Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uː

parvenu (plural parvenus)

1. A person who has risen, climbed up, or has been promoted to a higher social class, especially through acquisition of wealth, rights, or political authority but has not gained social acceptance by those within that new class.
   • 2001, January 31, Francis Wheen, "The whole truth about Peter's friends", The Guardian

     But the favourite's power and influence provoke intense ill-feeling among other courtiers, who regard him as a sinister, usurping parvenu with ideas above his station, or perhaps even a sorcerer.

• parvenuess

• arriviste

• nouveau riche

parvenu (not comparable)

1. Being a parvenu; also, like, having the characteristics of, or associated with a parvenu.
   • 2001, Norman Birnbaum, After Progress, Oxford University Press,

     The Progressives were of the educated middle class, angry at the rule of parvenu financiers and industrialists.

   • 2003, Edith Grossman (translator), Gabriel García Márquez, Living to Tell the Tale (2002), Chapter 1,

     The majority of the adults, however, viewed Luisa Santiaga as the precious jewel of a rich and powerful family whom a parvenu telegraph operator was courting not for love but self-interest.

Borrowed from French parvenu.

• IPA^(key): /ˌpɑr.vəˈny/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: par‧ve‧nu
• Rhymes: -y

parvenu m or f (plural parvenu's, diminutive parvenuutje n)

1. parvenu (a social climber not accepted by his er her new milieu, often due to crassness)

• IPA^(key): /paʁvəny/

parvenu (feminine singular parvenue, masculine plural parvenus, feminine plural parvenues)

1. parvenu

parvenu m (plural parvenus, feminine parvenue)

1. parvenu

parvenu m (feminine singular parvenue, masculine plural parvenus, feminine plural parvenues)

1. past participle of parvenir

• “parvenu” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Borrowed from French parvenu.

• Rhymes: -u

parvenu m (invariable)

1. parvenu

parvenu m, f (plural parvenus)

1. parvenu (a person who has risen to a higher social class)