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parvenus

noun

plural of parvenu
as in arrivistes
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for parvenus
  1. arrivistes
  2. upstarts
Noun
  • And yet, the digital arrivistes could only gain so much traction with a broader customer base and needed a boost from tie-ins with old-school counterparts.
    — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 20 Apr. 2026
  • 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
Definition of arrivistes
Noun
  • The power of those two songs catapulted Kings of Leon from hellraising upstarts who opened for rock giants like U2, the Rolling Stones, and Pearl Jam in the mid-aughts to global stardom.
    — Daniel Kohn, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Many of these upstarts have historically been quick to parlay a buzzy name and big bankroll into an initial slate of projects, generally centered around its athlete founder.
    — Justin Birnbaum, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of upstarts
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

parvenu
parvenus
parvis
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Cite this Entry

“Parvenus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/parvenus. Accessed 21 Sep. 2026.

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