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abovestairs

abovestairs

9.9
People in a house who live on the upper floors, usually the family
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : los de arriba
  • The abovestairs dined in the grand hall while the servants prepared the meal below.

Examples

  • During the party, the abovestairs barely noticed the busy work happening downstairs.

  • Stories often focus on the lives of the abovestairs and their interactions with the staff.

  • The family abovestairs enjoyed a quiet evening together.

  • The servants were busy while the abovestairs guests relaxed.

  • The abovestairs family often held lavish parties in their elegant drawing room.

  • In the large manor, the abovestairs residents enjoyed their meals while the staff worked downstairs.

  • The stories highlight the differences between the abovestairs lifestyle and that of the downstairs servants.

Synonyms

household
vsabovestairs
501 1.0

The people who live together in one home, often a family

means only the residents on upper levels rather than the home's full membership
floor
vsabovestairs
220 3.2

The people who are on one level of a building

focuses on those living on upper levels and contrasts them with servants

Antonyms

422 1.0

A person who works in someone's home doing jobs like cooking and cleaning

Surface Forms

abovestairs singular
abovestairs plural

Morphology

abovestairs = stairs (semi-transparent) = above + stairs

The lexical components form a clear locational compound ('above' + 'stairs'). [Postprocessing: moved 'above' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

Abovestairs comes from above 'higher' and stairs 'steps'. It was used to mean the people who live on the upper floor, the family 'above the stairs', as opposed to the servants downstairs.