parvenu

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Chenoweth, who is as gleaming as a holiday ornament on Liberace’s Christmas tree, arrives at a canny balance of quixotic generosity and parvenu carelessness in her portrayal of a woman she refuses to lampoon.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 9, 2025

In one scene, Trimalchio, a parvenu who serves dishes like a boiled calf wearing a helmet, decides that a mere party isn’t enough and holds a mock funeral for himself.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2016

He comes across as a shrewd, well-meaning parvenu who savors the expensive, tacky trappings of his success but who has no mythic stature whatsoever.

From New York Times • Jul. 4, 2013

In 1925, Gatsby’s pink suit marked him as an attention-seeking parvenu; today, you can buy a $996 replica from Brooks Brothers’ new “Gatsby Collection.”

From Slate • May 22, 2013

Truly it would be difficult to imagine anything more modest, more innocent, than the slender creature beside that broad-shouldered parvenu!

From Erlach Court by Schubin, Ossip