blue-bloods

Old money types

Blue-bloods are people of aristocratic or noble birth, or by extension, members of any elite social class.

The term comes from the visible veins beneath pale skin—a mark of those who didn't labor outdoors.

It now applies to old money, established families, or anyone from privileged backgrounds: The club was full of blue-bloods who'd never worked a day in their lives.

aristocracy

nobility

Titled ruling class

peerageSystem of noble ranks
gentryHighborn but not noble
patricianHighborn Roman elite

aristocrat · duke · marquess · earl · viscount · baron · baroness · countess · dowager · lord

lineage

ancestry

Family line of descent

pedigreeRecord of descent
genealogyStudy of family descent
bloodlineAncestry through generations

descent · heritage · birthright · inheritance · forebears · ancestors · progenitors · dynasty · scion · primogeniture

elite

privileged

Having special advantages

affluentHaving abundant financial resources
influentialHaving considerable effect
upper-classSocially and economically privileged

socialites · jet-set · oligarchs · magnates · noblesse · philanthropists · patrons · plutocrats · establishment · power-brokers

royalty

monarch

Hereditary supreme ruler

kingMale crowned ruler
queenMost powerful chess piece
princeRoyal family male

princess · emperor · empress · duke · duchess · crown · throne · palace · coronation · regent

Opposites

social class/aristocratic status

blue-bloodscommoners

Ordinary citizens, untitled

peasants · plebeians · the masses · hoi polloi · working class

wealth and economic privilege

blue-bloodspaupers

Extremely impoverished people

the poor · have-nots · beggars · nouveau riche · new money

social prestige and refinement

blue-bloodsriffraff

Disreputable or undesirable people

rabble · nobodies · untouchables · dregs of society · hicks

Family

blueblood, bluebloods

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