parvenue

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A form of parvenu — A person who has risen, climbed up, or has been promoted to a higher social class, especially through acquisition of wealth, privileges, or political authority but has not gained social acceptance by those within that new class.

Similar
parvenuessnouveau-richeparvenuupstartpretentiousnew
OriginFrench parvenue ← Latin parvenire →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

nounparvenue (plural parvenues)

plural parvenues

  1. feminineFemale equivalent of parvenu.

    They have seen women of rank, and parvenues, chaste maidens and anonymas, in a confused and gaudy glare of barbarous splendour.

    1869, Fanny Aikin Kortright, Pro aris et focis. [On women's work.], page 30

    Synonyms: parvenuess

Synonyms & antonyms

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivecharacteristic of someone who has risen economically or socially but lacks the social skills appropriate for this new position

Similar
nouveau-richeparvenuupstartpretentious

adjectiveof or characteristic of a parvenu

Similar
parvenunew
Also see
parvenuupstart

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinparvenire
  2. Frenchparvenue
  3. Englishparvenue

Borrowed from French parvenue, feminine past participle of parvenir (“to arrive”), learned borrowing from Latin parvenire, from per- (“through”) + venire (“to come”).

More words from French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Czech zbohatlice
  • zbohatlicefeminine equivalent of parvenu
French parvenu, parvenue
  • parvenufeminine equivalent of parvenu
  • parvenuefeminine equivalent of parvenu
Italian pervenuta, pervenute
  • pervenutafeminine equivalent of parvenu
  • pervenutefeminine equivalent of parvenu
Polish nuworyszka, parweniuszka
  • nuworyszkafeminine equivalent of parvenu
  • parweniuszkafeminine equivalent of parvenu
  • karierowiczkafeminine equivalent of parvenu
  • nowobogackafeminine equivalent of parvenu
Cite this entry
APA

parvenue. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parvenue

MLA

“parvenue.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parvenue. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “parvenue,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parvenue.

Source: parvenue on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.