yuppie

American  

[yuhp-ee] / ˈyʌp i /

Or yuppy

noun

plural

yuppies

1. (often initial capital letter) a young, ambitious, and well-educated city-dweller who has a professional career and an affluent lifestyle.

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yuppie British  

/ ˈjʌpɪ /

noun

1. an affluent young professional person

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adjective

1. typical of or reflecting the values characteristic of yuppies

Other Word Forms

• yuppiedom noun

Etymology

Origin of yuppie

First recorded in 1980–85, y(oung) u(rban) p(rofessional) + -ie

Explanation

If your brother calls you a yuppie, it's not a compliment, but it does mean that he sees you as a well-paid, professional adult. In the mid-1980's, people started using the derogatory term yuppie to talk about a particular group of middle-class, well-educated workers. Yuppies are distinguished by their disposable income and the things on which they choose to spend it, like clothes, food, and cars. Yuppie is a shortened form of "young urban professional," and its popularity won out over other acronyms of the time, "yumpie," for "young upwardly mobile professional, and "yap," for "young aspiring professional."

Example Sentences

When she begins dating the owner of a local pet shop, Iona immediately falls in step with her yuppie new beau.

From Salon • Feb. 28, 2026

She leaned into her academic background, fashioning herself as a yuppie villain, wearing power suits and professing her admiration for Hillary Clinton, according to the WWE.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 28, 2023

Mr. Pita, fluent in English and backed by strong support from younger Thais, appears in public as a jovial yuppie brimming with bright ideas, confident that he can overcome the constitutional hurdles in his path.

From Washington Times • Jul. 11, 2023

River City is a rental building again, and its raw concrete atrium has been painted white, a concession to the tastes of today’s yuppie renters.

From Slate • Aug. 4, 2021

The neighborly market I used to cruise for produce now looks forbiddingly like a Manhattan yuppie emporium.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich