Definition (Noun) A person from a humble background who has rapidly gained wealth or an influential social position; a nouveau riche; an upstart, a social climber. Generally used with the implication that the person concerned is unsuited to the new social position, especially through lacking the necessary manners or accomplishments. In Context "In short, Nora's contempt for Society's ways was not the sour grapes of the excluded parvenu; it was the amused disdain of the old aristocracy." Malcolm Macdonald, Sons of Fortune, 1978.