Four Hundred

or 400

noun

1. the exclusive social set of a city or area.

Four Hundred

noun

1. the Four Hundred
   the most exclusive or affluent social clique in a particular place

Word History and Origins

Origin of Four Hundred¹

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90; allegedly after the capacity of the ballroom in the mansion of Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, a leader of New York society in the late 19th century

Example Sentences

Four hundred businesses have been shuttered in just the last 40 days.

From The Daily Beast

Four hundred million Europeans are eligible to vote across the European Union's 28 countries to elect a new European Parliament.

From The Daily Beast

And, just eyeballing it here, that ark looked closer to four hundred cubits than the biblically prescribed three hundred.

From The Daily Beast

At his funeral in Connecticut, four hundred people showed up.

From The Daily Beast

“I witnessed a four-hundred pound refrigerator lift off the floor,” Ed says.

From The Daily Beast

The cathedral is the only Spanish parochial church; it cares for two thousand four hundred souls.

From Project Gutenberg

Little Jack Charmington, her husband, had a snug four hundred a year of his own, which quite sufficed for his modest needs.

From Project Gutenberg

The staff officer replied that a pension of four hundred francs would save them from want in their old age.

From Project Gutenberg

With only four hundred followers out of the fifteen hundred he had at the beginning, Poindexter fled westward.

From Project Gutenberg

Our four hundred prisoners, almost all made by the Manchester Brigade, amongst whom a good number of officers, do not console me.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• jet set