parvenu

See also: parvenü and Parvenü

English

WOTD – 4 August 2008

Etymology

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

See also parvenue f

Pronunciation

• (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

Noun

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, privileges, 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”, in 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.

Synonyms

• arriviste

Derived terms

• parvenuess

Translations

a person who has risen, climbed up, or has been promoted to a higher social class

• Bulgarian: новобогаташ (novobogataš), парвеню (bg) (parvenju)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 暴發戶 / 暴发户 (zh) (bàofāhù), 新貴 / 新贵 (zh) (xīnguì)

• Czech: zbohatlík m, parvenu m
• Dutch: parvenu (nl)
• Estonian: tõusik
• Finnish: nousukas (fi)
• French: parvenu (fr) m, parvenue (fr) f
• German: Emporkömmling (de) m, Parvenü (de) m
• Greek: νεόπλουτος (el) m (neóploutos)
• Hungarian: parvenü (hu)
• Icelandic: stéttskiptingur m, uppskafningur (is) m
• Ido: parvenuo (io)
• Italian: parvenu (it) m
• Japanese: 成り金 (なりきん, narikin), 成り上がり者 (なりあがりもの, nariagari-mono), 出来星 (ja) (できぼし, dekiboshi)
• Lithuanian: iškilėlis
• Macedonian: скороевец m (skoroevec)
• Polish: parweniusz (pl) m, nowobogacki (pl), nuworysz (pl) m, dorobkiewicz (pl) m
• Portuguese: parvenu (pt) m or f
• Russian: парвеню́ (ru) m (parvenjú), нувори́ш (ru) m (nuvoríš), вы́скочка (ru) m or f (výskočka)
• Spanish: advenedizo (es) m
• Swedish: parveny (sv) c, uppkomling (sv) c

See also

• nouveau riche

Adjective

parvenu (not comparable)

1. Being a parvenu; also, like, having the characteristics of, or associated with a parvenu.
   • 1903, Samuel Butler, chapter 66, in The Way of All Flesh:

     Loss of money is far the worst, then comes ill-health, and then loss of reputation; loss of reputation is a bad third, for, if a man keeps health and money unimpaired, it will be generally found that his loss of reputation is due to breaches of parvenu conventions only, and not to violations of those older, better established canons whose authority is unquestionable.

   • 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, chapter 1, in Living to Tell the Tale, translation of original by Gabriel García Márquez, published 2002:

     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.

Translations

being a parvenu; also, like or having the characteristics of a parvenu

• Estonian: tõusiklik
• Finnish: nousukasmainen (fi)
• German: parvenühaft
• Greek: νεόπλουτος (el) m (neóploutos)
• Hungarian: parvenü (hu), felkapaszkodott (hu)
• Spanish: advenedizo (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} parvenu (it)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} pervenitus m, ^{(please verify)} pervenita f

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French parvenu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpɑr.vəˈny/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: par‧ve‧nu
• Rhymes: -y

Noun

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

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

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paʁ.və.ny/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

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

1. parvenu

Noun

parvenu m (plural parvenus, feminine parvenue)

1. parvenu

Descendants

• → English: parvenu
• → Danish: parvenu
• → Dutch: parvenu
• → German: Parvenü
• → Italian: parvenu
• → Portuguese: parvenu

Participle

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

1. past participle of parvenir

Further reading

• “parvenu”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from French parvenu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /par.veˈnu/^*
• Rhymes: -u

Noun

parvenu m (invariable)

1. parvenu

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French parvenu.

Noun

parvenu m or f by sense (plural parvenus)

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

   Synonyms: novo-rico, arrivista, emergente

   Coordinate term: alpinista social

Further reading

• “parvenu”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025
• “parvenu”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “parvenu”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025