parvenu

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

parvenu [pahr-vuh-noo, -nyoo, pahr-vuh-noo, -nyoo]

noun

one that has recently or suddenly risen to an unaccustomed position of wealth or power and has not yet gained the prestige, dignity, or manner associated with it (derogatory)

examples

1. 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

2. "...All the senior authorities from the Spanish administration, soldiers laden with decorations, attorneys and magistrates, representatives of Morocco's political parties and the Jewish community, the whole diplomatic corps, the directors of banks, posh civil servants, powerful businessmen, doctors, every Spaniard, Arab, and Jew of high social standing and--naturally--the odd parvenu like you, you shameless little thing, slipping through the back door with your limping reporter on your arms." The Seamstress María Dueñas

origins

1795–1805; < French: upstart, noun use of past participle of parvenir to arrive, reach < Latin pervenīre, equivalent to per- per- + venīre to come

Comments

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you!