upper crust

American  

noun

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

2. Informal. the highest social class.

---

upper crust British  

noun

1. informal the upper class

---

upper crust Cultural  

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

---

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]

---

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 pull of college football’s traditional upper crust is so powerful that earlier this season, Lane Kiffin left a playoff-bound team at Ole Miss to become the head coach at LSU.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026

“It’s really when you get to that upper crust that you start seeing, like, different kinds of motives and motivations,” he said.

From Slate • May 11, 2024

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 • May 8, 2024

I mean what did the upper crust, white-collar business types say about the Klan?

From Salon • Jun. 6, 2023

The cruise industry, once associated with the upper crust, is another.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

Related Words

• aristocracy
• blue blood
• jet set
• upper class