upper class

The highest socioeconomic class in a society.

up′per-class′ adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

upper class

(Sociology) the class occupying the highest position in the social hierarchy, esp the wealthy or the aristocracy

adj (upper-class when prenominal)

1. (Sociology) of or relating to the upper class

2. (Education) education US of or relating to the junior or senior classes of a college or high school

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

up′per class′

a class above the middle class, characterized by wealth and social prestige.

[1830–40]

up′per-class′, adj.

upper class

The highest class in society, usually made up of the wealthy and those holding hereditary rank.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

upper class - the class occupying the highest position in the social hierarchy

upper crust

social class, socio-economic class, stratum, class - people having the same social, economic, or educational status; "the working class"; "an emerging professional class"

elite, elite group - a group or class of persons enjoying superior intellectual or social or economic status

gentry, aristocracy - the most powerful members of a society

people in power, ruling class - the class of people exerting power or authority

upper class

noun

1. aristocracy, nobility, gentry, peerage, ruling class, upper crust (informal), elite, haut monde (French) Many of the British upper classes are no longer very rich.

adjective

1. aristocratic, upper-class, noble, high-class, patrician, top-drawer, blue-blooded, highborn All of them came from wealthy, upper class families.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

upper class

noun

People of the highest social level:

aristocracy, blue blood, crème de la crème, elite, flower, gentility, gentry, nobility, patriciate, quality, society, who's who.

Informal: upper crust.

adjectiveupper-class

Of high birth or social position:

aristocratic, blue-blooded, elite, highborn, highbred, noble, patrician, thoroughbred, wellborn.

Informal: upper-crust.

Translations

الطَّبَقَة العُليا

aristokraciearistokratický

overklasse

Oberschicht

élite

felsõbb osztályok

yfirstétt

ceto elevato classe lezione

višji sloj

yukarı sınıfyüksek tabaka

上流社会上流社会的

upper

(ˈapə) adjective

higher in position, rank etc. the upper floors of the building; He has a scar on his upper lip.

noun

(usually in plural) the part of a shoe above the sole. There's a crack in the upper.

ˈuppermost adjective

highest. in the uppermost room of the castle.

adverb

in the highest place or position. Thoughts of him were upper-most in her mind.

upper class

(of) the highest rank of society; (of) the aristocracy. The upper classes can no longer afford to have many servants; He speaks with an upper-class accent.

get/have the upper hand (of/over someone)

to have or win an advantage over. Our team managed to get the upper hand in the end.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"Yes," he replied; "I think if he isn't a man in society, he is, at least, a man belonging to the upper class. But that, again, is only an impression."

View in context

The world is full of masonic ties, of guilds, of secret and public legions of honor; that of scholars, for example; and that of gentlemen, fraternizing with the upper class of every country and every culture.

View in context

I have had no opportunity to find out any thing about the upper classes by my own observation, but from what I hear said about them I judge that what they lack in one or two of the bad traits the canaille have, they make up in one or two others that are worse.

View in context

In the house of the Working Man or respectable Tradesman -- where the wife is allowed to turn her back upon her husband, while pursuing her household avocations -- there are at least intervals of quiet, when the wife is neither seen nor heard, except for the humming sound of the continuous Peace-cry; but in the homes of the upper classes there is too often no peace.

View in context

"I don't advocate protection for the sake of private interests, but for the public weal, and for the lower and upper classes equally," he said, looking over his pince-nez at Oblonsky.

View in context

He wished the boys and girls of the two upper classes to compete; the award to be made to the writers of the two best essays.

View in context

'Guy of Warwick' and 'Bevis of Hampton,' which are among the best known but most tedious of all the list, belong, in their original form, to the upper classes.

View in context

All grocery stocks had been bought out by the upper classes. And perfect order reigned.

View in context

Such people have generally visited at the houses of the upper classes, where the domestic slaves are usually well treated, and they have not, like myself, lived amongst the lower classes.

View in context

He described his ambitions and ideals, and his conception of the paradise wherein lived the people of the upper classes. As he said:

View in context

It was at one of those entertainments where the upper classes entertain the lower.

View in context

Down below where he lived was the ignoble, and he wanted to purge himself of the ignoble that had soiled all his days, and to rise to that sublimated realm where dwelt the upper classes. All his childhood and youth had been troubled by a vague unrest; he had never known what he wanted, but he had wanted something that he had hunted vainly for until he met Ruth.

View in context