upper crust

American  

noun

1. the topmost layer of crust, as of a pie.

2. Informal. the highest social class.

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upper crust British  

noun

1. informal the upper class

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upper crust Cultural  

1. Upper class: “The upper crust often have at least one summer house.”

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upper crust Idioms  

1. The highest social class, as in She wanted badly to be one of the upper crust but it wasn't going to happen. This term alludes to the choicest part of a pie or loaf of bread. [First half of 1800s]

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Other Word Forms

• upper-crust adjective

Etymology

Origin of upper crust

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English; 1830–35 upper crust for def. 2

Example Sentences

The revelations have shocked L.A.’s upper crust, and even some of the couple’s closest friends, many of whom assumed that Gary had almost unlimited financial resources.

From The Wall Street Journal

Thucydides was a political analyst from Athens’s upper crust, an insider breaking down the Greeks’ drama in search of the “truest cause” of events.

From The Wall Street Journal

Tisch, who has worked in city government for decades, also happens to be the Harvard-educated daughter of a billionaire who speaks the upper crust’s language.

From The Wall Street Journal

Some people may be tempted to see online renewal as just another service tailor-made for the upper crust, because who else needs a passport for foreign travel?

From Los Angeles Times

The melts were buoyant and ascended back to the upper crust, trapping the heat-producing elements there in rocks like granite and allowing the lower crust to cool and harden.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• aristocracy
• blue blood
• jet set
• upper class