Dictionary

upper crust en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

First known use as an idiom: 1836.

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of upper-crust.
   alt of upper-crust

Forms

upper crust en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

First known use as an idiom: 1836.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, usually, with the) The social elite, the highest social class.
   • “You ever see the movie Spotlight?” “About the Boston Globe reporters who uncovered the sexual abuse coverup in the Catholic Church?” “Yeah, exactly.” “No.” “Oh. Well, in that I played Ben Bradlee, Jr. And that character begins with the accent, because the real Bradlee is from Boston. But he's an upper-crust guy. [Boston accent] Not like some jamoke standing around Kelly's Tavern in, uh, Revere Beach, you know what I mean?” “Very good, John Slattery.” “[regular accent] Not bad, right? But I was talking to him.” 2023 August 10, Sam Johnson & Chris Marcil, “Urgent Care” (11:58 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 5, episode 6, spoken by John Slattery (John Slattery):
   • Some accents reveal the distinctive bray of the upper crust, but most are generic middle class. 2006 June 18, J. F. O. McAllister, “A New Kind of Elite”, in Time:
   • I judged from your remark about the diligence and industry of the high Parisian upper crust that it would have some point. 1894, Mark Twain, “A Little Note to M. Paul Bourget”, in Essays on Paul Bourget:
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see upper, crust. The topmost layer of a bread, pastry dish, or other item with a hardened coating.
   • She went to get her tarts . . . but some one had stolen all the fruit out of them by lifting up the upper crust. 1871, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “chapter 20”, in Little Men: […], Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC:

Forms

Deriveds

uppercruster · upper-crust · upper-crusty · upper-cruster

Synonyms

the quality · upper class

Translations (3)

pl wyższe sfery (Translations) · es corteza superior (Translations) · es alta corteza (Translations)