déclassé
Americanadjective
-
reduced to or having low or lower status.
a once-chic restaurant that had become completely déclassé.
-
reduced or belonging to a lower or low social class, position, or rank.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of déclassé
1885–1890; < French, past participle of déclasser. See de-, class
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
By elevating quotidian subject matter to a sublime frenzy of saturated hues, he established color photography as an art form during the 1960s and ’70s, when it had been dismissed as déclassé.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
This general variety of business has often been viewed as déclassé, the province of fast-talking hustlers.
From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2023
A cut once deemed déclassé is now at the forefront of chicness.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 19, 2022
Then again, the reason everyone likes them is because regardless of how loud or déclassé their behavior is, they're deferential and sweet to the family elders.
From Salon • Aug. 28, 2021
There was a very hard-boiled egg, a box of sardines, a dish of terribly déclassé potatoes, and a cup of tea.
From The Claw by Stockley, Cynthia
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
