upper crust
- the topmost layer of crust, as of a pie.
- Informal. the highest social class.
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Origin of upper crust
1425–75; 1830–35 for def 2; late Middle English
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
aristocracyaristocraticelitegentlehighbornhighbredimperialkinglypatricianthoroughbredqueenlytitledwellbornflowergentilitygentrynobilitypatriciatequalityglitteratiExamples from the Web for upper crust
Contemporary Examples
Will Rachel gain admission to Fantasy Island (i.e., upper-crust Singapore) or be booted off, or flee in revulsion?
These upper-crust, traditional networks are a huge part of why young men and young women choose to go to Ivy League schools.
Historical Examples
Those families, you know, are our upper-crust,—not upper ten thousand.
Through the Year With Famous AuthorsMabel Patterson
It was a travelling-show, you see, and some of the upper-crust people came out of the house I spoke of, and listened.
Phemie Frost's ExperiencesAnn S. Stephens
Place the bit of upper-crust carefully on the top of each, so as to cover the whole.
Miss Leslie's Lady's New Receipt-BookEliza Leslie
But why do you suffer yourselves to be crushed down by the upper-crust of senile nincompoops?
Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863Adam Gurowski
upper crust
- informal the upper class
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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
upper crust
Upper class: “The upper crust often have at least one summer house.”
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Idioms and Phrases with upper crust
upper crust
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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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.