upper crust

n. Informal

The highest social class or group.

up′per-crust′ 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 crust

(Sociology) informal the upper class

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

up′per crust′

Informal. the highest social class.

[1830–35]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

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

upper class

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 crust

noun

Informal. People of the highest social level:

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

adjectiveupper-crust

Informal. Of high birth or social position:

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

Translations

upper crust

n the upper crust (fam) → l'aristocrazia

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Grimaud placed the pie before the duke, who took a knife with a silver blade to raise the upper crust; but La Ramee, who was afraid of any harm happening to this fine work of art, passed his knife, which had an iron blade, to the duke.

View in context

Speaking with FNA in an exclusive interview, James Corbett said those who are invited to the meeting are "the upper crust of the upper crust of the leaders of industry, royalty, financiers, and those who belong to the core power.

James Corbett: Bilderberg Group Solve Crisis Themselves Creating

SSP feels heat from groundings The owners of Upper Crust and Caffe Ritazza has revealed that sales have been hit by the continued grounding of Boeing's Max 737 planes, with passengers being moved away from terminals.

SSP feels heat from groundings

Old School The rich get richer and the poor will get poorer Of taxes and death one can only be surer The rich own our beautiful fertile lands They live in castles while we build on Byker sands Their power and wealth have been inherited And tax avoidance is to them is credited Government positions are almost always old school Chosen from a very limited upper class pool For the privileged few Oxford or Cambridge is a must The establishment have always looked after the upper crust The powerful and the wealthy continue to rule our lands And we will continue to live in the likes of Byker sands GEORGE MCLANDERS

POEM OF THE DAY

The American transplant has found her footing amid England's upper crust. She's looking forward to a quiet end to summer until a friend, Mary Archer, is found murdered and Lady Harleigh's own cousin is questioned.

A Lady's Guide to Gossip and Murder

As a bemused Indian journalist Shekhar Gupta tweeted, "because no upper crust can be nuttier than Pakistan."

White Lies

ordinary middle-class people" forced to rummage "in stinking piles of rubbish for rotten cabbage leaves." Hundreds of thousands of people in the country were scavenging for food while members of the political upper crust were "enjoying lavish parties and gourmet cuisine." The article revealed unjust conditions and the failure of governmental leaders to do the right thing to help their people.

Party on?

IT WENT from clothing the upper crust to being mocked as the uniform of neds and Essex girls.

Awright troops.. RiRi checks in with a nod to ned chic

Arlington, MA, October 06, 2016 --(PR.com)-- With the highest possible customer satisfaction rating of 5 stars, The Upper Crust Pizzeria has earned the 2016 City Beat News (CBN) Spectrum Award for Excellence in Customer Satisfaction.

Upper Crust Pizzeria Wins 2016 City Beat News Spectrum Award for Excellence in Customer Satisfaction

Although, dry and wet dislocation creep were previously assumed for the upper crust (Tejero and Ruiz, 2002; Ruiz et al., 2006; Jimenez-Diaz et al., 2012), the numerical modelling of Cenozoic deformations discards a weak upper crust (Martin-Velazquez and De Vicente, 2012), and only dry rheology will be modelled in this layer.

Strength of the Iberian intraplate lithosphere: Cenozoic deformations and seismicity

UPPER CRUST LOSSES The owner of Upper Crust and Caffe Ritazza fell into the red today as costs stemming from its July flotation offset a strong UK performance.

COMPANIES TODAY

Richard Graham Conway, 33, of no fixed address, attempted to lift the Royal British Legion tin from the Upper Crust shop at Liverpool Lime Street station on November 9.

POPPY DAY THIEF SENT TO JAIL ON ARMISTICE DAY; Crook nabbed collection box from shop counter