upscale
Americanadjective
-
located at, moving toward, or of or for the upper end of a social or economic scale.
The boutique caters to upscale young career people.
-
luxurious, costly, or elegant.
verb (used with object)
noun
adjective
verb
Etymology
Origin of upscale
Explanation
Things that are upscale are made for rich people — they are high class, well made, or just plain pricey. If your friend takes you to a fancy, expensive restaurant for your birthday, you can describe it using the word upscale. Upscale neighborhoods are full of lovely, high-priced homes, and upscale vacations might involve yachts, exotic beaches, and private planes. Upscale is the opposite of downscale, which you could use to describe a run-down motel or a grubby, cheap diner. Both adjectives first came into use in the mid-1960s.
Vocabulary lists containing upscale
A Wealth Of Words: Synonyms for "Rich"
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Outcasts United
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The Parker Inheritance
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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.
Welltower also gained an edge by concentrating on the industry’s most lucrative segment: upscale communities serving affluent seniors.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 29, 2026
It is a frenzied, organized dance with missed steps and dropped plates and canned tuna and mayonnaise gussied up into a fancy tonnato sauce that tastes upscale and flawless to the unsuspecting.
From Salon • Jun. 28, 2026
There's a different kind of depth to the darkness at nighttime in the upscale Catalina Foothills neighbourhood of Tucson, Arizona.
From BBC • Jun. 25, 2026
The sources say recessions and stock market declines may limit how many new residents enter since those events may affect people’s ability to pay for these upscale consumer products.
From Barron's • Jun. 20, 2026
We went on real dates, going for what we considered upscale dinners at Red Lobster and to the movies.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
