upper ten thousand

English

Etymology

Coined in the 1800s by American poet and author Nathaniel Parker Willis.

Noun

upper ten thousand pl (plural only)

1. (dated, colloquial) The ten thousand people, more or less, who are highest in position or wealth; the upper class; the aristocracy.

Synonyms

• upper ten

References

• “upper”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.