English · Idiom Historical

The Upper Ten

Preserved but no longer current.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

The aristocracy, the cream of society. Short for the upper ten thousand. The term was first used by N. P.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Giai cấp quý tộc, tầng lớp thượng lưu của xã hội

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “The Upper Ten” mean?

The aristocracy, the cream of society. Short for the upper ten thousand. The term was first used by N. P.

Is “The Upper Ten” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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