top brass
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of top brass
An Americanism dating back to 1935–40
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.
For Martinez, retention is the top problem, and he blames top brass for it.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
The committee said it had taken the "unusual but necessary step" of declaring no confidence in the company's top brass because of the seriousness of the failures.
From BBC • May 1, 2026
Military top brass, political elites and ordinary party members will crowd Pyongyang for the twice-a-decade gathering, with supreme leader Kim Jong Un taking centre stage.
From Barron's • Feb. 13, 2026
Inside Paramount, some call Cardinale “The Godfather,” a nod to the studio’s famed film, because of his role as a guru of sorts to its top brass, people who work with him say.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026
But there is no doubt that the Nazi top brass treated Bayreuth as a shrine.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
