yuppie disease
- noun
- /ˈjʌpi dɪˈziːz/
- Offensive
- As soon as he got his first high-paying job, he caught a bad case of yuppie disease.
Examples
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Many critics argue that yuppie disease is weakening the sense of community among young urbanites.
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Is yuppie disease affecting your spending habits?
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Social commentators often discuss yuppie disease in the context of modern urban lifestyles.
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Many young professionals suffer from yuppie disease.
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After getting promoted, she seemed to develop a serious case of yuppie disease, always flaunting the latest gadgets.
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He often joked that his friends were suffering from yuppie disease as they constantly chased after the newest fashions.
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Critics claim that yuppie disease is a sign of the times, as young professionals prioritize wealth over relationships.
Synonyms
Valuing money and things more than moral or spiritual life
Buying expensive things to show others you have wealth or status
A narrow money-focused way of thinking common among ordinary middle-class people
A way of acting that shows you care about money, brands, and fancy parties
Antonyms
How Materialistic
- Offensive
Surface Forms
Morphology
yuppie + disease
The phrase combines 'yuppie' (young professional) with 'disease' used figuratively to label a social or behavioural problem, so a learner who knows both words can infer it means a problematic tendency affecting yuppies. However, the use of 'disease' metaphorically and the specific nuance of excessive materialism/consumerism require cultural knowledge beyond literal composition, so the meaning is not fully predictable.
Etymology
Yuppie disease uses yuppie meaning a young city professional and disease as a joke: imagine an 'illness' people 'catch' that makes them buy lots of expensive, trendy things. So the phrase means being very focused on money, brands, and new trends.