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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Recent Examples of parvenu
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for parvenu
Noun
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Certainly there’s a long and distinguished tradition of associating Jewish arrivistes with entrepreneurialism, avarice, and clannishness.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
24 Nov. 2025
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Compared with some of her peers, she was initially seen as an arriviste.—
Caitlin Moscatello,
New York Times,
3 Mar. 2023
Noun
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The concern is that the AI native upstarts, such as OpenAI and Anthropic, will increasingly disintermediate the relationship those big SaaS providers have with their customers and will obviate the need for these customers to upgrade to the AI agent offerings the SaaS giants themselves are offering.—
Sharon Goldman,
Fortune,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Around 2015, upstarts like Chobani or BodyArmor began stealing market share from legacy brands.—
Amelia Lucas,
CNBC,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Trouble begins brewing with the arrival of their nouveau riche neighbors, Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif), and his ward, Isabella (Alison Oliver).—
Radhika Seth,
Vogue,
9 Feb. 2026
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With the farm suddenly unsustainable, there’s nothing for it but to pack up and seek work in Pristina, where Hatixhe’s sister Lina (Fiona Gllavica) lives a comfortable nouveau riche life in a large, gleaming new-build home courtesy of her entrepreneur husband Alban (Alban Ukaj).—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Gorging aside, this year’s restaurant week should hold enough attraction for any level of food adventurer.—
John Metcalfe,
Mercury News,
6 Feb. 2026
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When achieving the summit or the darkest depths becomes essential to self-worth, death can become a worthwhile risk for an extreme adventurer.—
Christopher Ferguson,
Big Think,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Parvenu.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/parvenu. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.
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