Parvenus (en. Upstarts)

/paʁ.və.ny/

Meaning & Definition

EnglishFrench

noun

A person who has recently attained a higher social status.

He sees himself as a parvenu since he inherited his uncle's fortune.

Il se considère comme un parvenu depuis qu'il a hérité de la fortune de son oncle.

An individual who is vain about their newfound wealth.

Parvenus are distinguished by their need to impress others.

Les parvenus se distinguent par leur besoin d'impressionner les autres.

From the verb 'parvenir', meaning to reach a goal or a status.

reached the summit

achieving the highest level of success

parvenu au sommet

to be a parvenu

behaving pretentiously because of one's wealth

être un parvenu

fashionable parvenu

a person who follows current trends to gain acceptance

parvenu à la mode

wealth

The state of being rich;

richesse

vanity

The tendency to consider oneself superior because of one's fortune.

vanité

pretentious

One who shows vanity or believes themselves to be superior.

prétentieux

An individual who boasts about their recent wealth.

Look at that parvenu, he wears designer clothes just to show off.

Regarde ce parvenu, il porte des vêtements de designer juste pour se montrer.

Someone who acts ostentatiously.

She only talks about her luxury vacations, she's a real parvenu.

Elle ne fait que parler de ses vacances de luxe, c'est une vraie parvenue.