Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
📱 Connected devices 💃 Fashionable group
smart set

smart set

1 8.2
A group of fashionable people in high society
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : alta sociedad

Examples

  • From the cocktail parties of the Park Avenue smart set...

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Racism was becoming fashionable in the smart set, if done in a suitably subtle way.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • At the exclusive gala, the smart set mingled elegantly in their designer outfits.

  • Many people in the smart set frequent luxury boutiques to stay on trend.

  • The smart set often dines at upscale restaurants to showcase their sophisticated tastes.

Synonyms

society
vssmart set
111 5.8

Rich, fashionable people with social influence

stresses style and fashion more than wealth or influence
high society
vssmart set
9 4.2

A group of rich, fashionable people with social influence

emphasizes fashionable appearance rather than social rank or wealth
jet set
vssmart set
1 6.8

A group of rich fashionable people who often travel for pleasure

means fashionable elites generally without implying frequent travel
beau monde
vssmart set
1 9.9

People who are wealthy and fashionable and attend fancy parties and important social events

is the same idea expressed in broader, neutral English
bon ton
vssmart set
  • Formal
9.9

A fashionable group of people with polite manners and stylish clothes

focuses on the same elite but without stressing refined manners
ultra-fashionable
vssmart set
6.0

People who are very stylish and set new fashion trends

describes fashionable elites but not necessarily at trendsetting extremes

Antonyms

commoner
31 4.2

A person without a noble title who is an ordinary member of society

outcast
5 5.1

Not accepted by a group or community

How Fashionable

jet set
1 6.8
smart set
  • Archaic
1 8.2
high society
9 4.2
in-crowd
  • Informal
5 8.0

Surface Forms

smart set singular
smart sets plural

Morphology

smart + set

The compound meaning ‘a group of smart devices’ is directly derivable from combining 'smart' (intelligent/automated device) with 'set' (a group of related items). This is a productive, compositional pattern in English (similar to 'tool set' or 'speaker set') and would be clear to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Smart set comes from older use of smart meaning well-dressed and set meaning a small group. Picture a circle of very well-dressed people who only mix with each other, and that image explains why it means 'fashionable' or 'social elite'.