wellborn

American  

[wel-bawrn] / ˈwɛlˈbɔrn /

adjective

1. born of a noble or highly esteemed family.

---

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. wellborn persons collectively.

   the pride and assurance of the wellborn.

Etymology

Origin of wellborn

First recorded before 950; Middle English; Old English welboren; well ¹, born

Example Sentences

An aristocracy was unavoidable; the United States would be ruled by the rich, the wellborn and the able.

From Salon

Millions loved watching the nerdy Herb Stempel and the wellborn Charles Van Doren sweat in the “isolation booth.”

From MSNBC

Virginia Hall, a wellborn, multilingual Marylander who became known to the Nazis as the Limping Lady because of her artificial leg, helped French Resistance fighters wage guerrilla warfare against the occupying Germans.

From Washington Post

But to a generation of writers after Wharton that structure—the lives and mores of the rich, the wellborn, and the climbers—proved endlessly diverting.

From Literature

"Brienne, I have taken many wellborn ladies into my service over the years, but never one like you. I am no battle commander."

From Literature

Related Words

• aristocratic