top-shelf
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of top-shelf
First recorded in 1850–55
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.
They had transformed themselves from the ridiculed Clip Joint to a top-shelf NBA organization, but they now have been affixed with a scarlet eight letters that will follow them forever: cheaters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
Typically and historically, high battery costs have tended to displace customer-facing value—nice things we cannot have, like a top-shelf audio system, premium upholstery and trim, up-to-date comms and connectivity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
But when they beat the Chargers on the opening weekend of the playoffs, Vrabel wasn’t looking to dissect whether or not the team had proven itself against top-shelf competition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 26, 2026
While those top-shelf names certainly hold appeal, they aren’t without risk.
From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025
The good Giant took them both into the house, and the butterfly was put on a top-shelf, where there were some honey-jars, and if he didn't eat!
From Ting-a-ling by Frank Richard Stockton
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.
