upper crust
5
6.8
- noun
- /ˈʌpər krʌst/
- Informal
:
alta sociedad
- How many of the upper crust of the racing circle knew his back-alley upbringing?
Examples
-
There is a strong upper-crust bias to membership—the cream of the central Illinois legal community.
Fiction book (1992) -
Poised, courtly, elegantly dressed, they are clearly of the upper crust.
Academic text (2011) -
William came from a very traditional, upper-crust, American family.
-
Young people in the bar move naturally from Chinese into English, the way upper-crust characters in Henry James novels break into French without warning.
Fiction book (2001) -
Never has there been so little diversity within America's upper crust.
Blog text (19) -
She was a Virginian born to the upper crust of Virginia planter life, born just after the war.
-
One of the old rules had been "the butler didn't do it," implying that the criminal, as well as the victim, must be an upper-crust person - someone the well-bred reader would care about.
Fiction book (2001) -
William came from a very traditional, upper crust, American family.
-
All the customers look like the upper crust crowd you'd expect at Tiffany's.
-
Her adventures with her new upper crust friends will keep you in stitches.
Synonyms
258
4.7
A small group of the most powerful or rich people in a society
38
6.5
A person from the highest social class, often by birth or title
24
7.2
A small group of rich, powerful families who inherit titles and wealth
15
3.4
A social group with the most money and power
15
6.2
People who have inherited titles and special rights
14
8.4
People of high social rank, often landowners below the nobles
10
3.8
People who have far more money than most others
9
5.0
A small group of people with more money, power, or education than others
9
4.2
A group of rich, fashionable people with social influence
4
8.5
A person from the upper class who has polite manners
3
9.9
A class of people born into high social position who have special rights
1
9.6
A person from the upper class who has high social rank
1
3.9
People who have much more money than other people
1
4.0
People who are much richer than most others
Antonyms
How Wealthy
- Informal
5
6.8
15
3.4
516
2.0
69
2.8
- Specialized
19
5.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
upper + crust
The adjective 'upper' clearly signals a higher/top position and 'crust' can denote an outer or top layer, so a learner could infer a 'top layer' sense. However, mapping that image to the social meaning 'wealthy elite' is metaphorical and somewhat culture-specific; many learners will not predict the social-class sense without prior exposure. Because the relationship is partly inferable from the parts but still idiomatic, it is best classified as semi-transparent.
Etymology
Upper crust may come from the image of upper (top) and crust (the outer top of bread or a pie) that sits above the rest. So people used that picture to talk about the top people in society—the 'wealthy and important' class.