top drawer

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See synonyms for: top drawer / top drawers / topdrawer on Thesaurus.com

noun

the highest level in rank, excellence, or importance: a musician strictly out of the top drawer.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of top drawer

First recorded in 1900–05

OTHER WORDS FROM top drawer

top-drawer, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use top drawer in a sentence

Like all top-drawer authors, García Márquez possesses magnificent authority.
García Márquez Showed Us How Great Fiction Could Be|Malcolm Jones|April 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As he fell under the seat, he told his wife, “G'bye, honey, the policies are in the top drawer.”
Mel Brooks Is Always Funny and Often Wise in This 1975 Playboy Interview|Alex Belth|February 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Dreier was a Yale and Harvard law graduate and a staple of top-drawer charity galas.
Did We All Go Mad?|Tina Brown|December 15, 2008|DAILY BEAST
Isis it positive that the papers were put in 100 that top drawer that Miss Carrington now has open?
The Girls of Central High on the Stage|Gertrude W. Morrison

"Show me the top drawer of his cabinet, dear," said the Witch.
The Strand Magazine, Volume XVII, February 1899, No. 98.|Various
The combination of the safe is in that top drawer, on a slip of paper.
Cursed|George Allan England
And she popped them into the top drawer on the right-hand side of her desk.
The Girls of Central High on the Stage|Gertrude W. Morrison
He opened the top drawer of his desk, took out a little slip of paper that helped refresh his memory, and approached the safe.
Cursed|George Allan England

British Dictionary definitions for top drawer

top drawer

noun

people of the highest standing, esp socially (esp in the phrase out of the top drawer)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with top drawer

top drawer

Of the highest quality, importance, or rank, as in The musicians in this pick-up orchestra were top drawer. It probably alludes to the uppermost drawer in a bureau or chest, where the most valuable objects (such as jewelry) are usually kept. [c. 1900]

top drawer

Origin of top drawer

OTHER WORDS FROM top drawer

Words related to top drawer

How to use top drawer in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for top drawer

Other Idioms and Phrases with top drawer