Joneses

[john-ziz]

plural noun

1. one's neighbors, friends, business associates, etc..

   Keeping up with the Joneses has put him in debt.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Joneses¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

“My detectives are too busy just trying to keep up with the Joneses,” Hamilton said.

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The Joneses gave him a few thousand dollars to buy off the babysitter’s family.

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But because it appeared everyone on television and in magazines was doing so well, relative deprivation — feeling the need to “keep up with the Joneses” — replaced common sense.

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According to court records the Joneses used increasingly severe methods to control the boy’s behavior, including strapping him to an inversion table, handcuffing him and shocking him with a device called a Zap Enforcer.

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The Joneses and Wass deduced that the guitar, after being stolen, was eventually sold to a man named Ron Guest.

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