upper-crust

• upper crust

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upper-crust (comparative more upper-crust, superlative most upper-crust)

1. (idiomatic, informal) Posh, upper-class; pertaining to the upper crust.

   An upper-crust London party.

   They're aiming for a more upper-crust clientele.

   • 1989, Roy Thomas, Japan: The Blighted Blossom, page 172:

     In 1986, Takako Doi was elected leader of the Japan Socialist Party; another woman is the president of Takashimaya, Japan's most upper-crust department store chain.

   • 1993, Alice Adams, Almost Perfect, published 1998, page 192:

     But Prentice had grown up richer and more upper-crust than Richard had any idea of.

   • 2013 October 13, Erik Adams, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Lisa’s Wedding” (season six, episode 19; originally aired 3/19/1995)”, in The Onion AV Club‎:

     Patinkin’s melodious voice is a natural fit for animation, and he breathes just the right type of upper-crust life into Hugh in 22 short minutes.

   • 2012, J. A. Jance, Left for Dead, page 43:

     That was another story, and the retirees who frequented the relatively lowbrow kino Ridge were more likely than the more upper-crust folks at Amado or Rio Rico to shut up and pay their fines than they were to hire criminal defense attorneys.

   • 2023 August 10, Sam Johnson & Chris Marcil, “Urgent Care” (11:58 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows‎, season 5, episode 6, spoken by John Slattery (John Slattery):

     “You ever see the movie Spotlight?” “About the Boston Globe reporters who uncovered the sexual abuse coverup in the Catholic Church?” “Yeah, exactly.” “No.” “Oh. Well, in that I played Ben Bradlee, Jr. And that character begins with the accent, because the real Bradlee is from Boston. But he's an upper-crust guy. Not like some jamoke standing around Kelly's Tavern in, uh, Revere Beach, you know what I mean?” “Very good, John Slattery.” “ Not bad, right? But I was talking to him.”