public school accent
Elite British intonation
A public school accent is the distinctive manner of speaking associated with graduates of elite British boarding schools—Eton, Harrow, Winchester, and their ilk.
Despite the name, British public schools are expensive private institutions.
The accent signals upper-class breeding and old-money privilege, characterized by precise enunciation and certain vowel sounds: His public school accent made him sound like a character from a period drama.
The term often carries connotations of entitlement or being out of touch with ordinary people.
- poshStylishly luxurious
- EtonElite English boarding school
- OxfordHistoric English university town
- BBC EnglishStandard British broadcast accent
- upper classWealthiest societal stratum
upper crust · plummy · Oxbridge · cut glass · Queen's English · refined · elocution · aristocratic · royal family · clipped · vowels · enunciation · prestige · jolly good · privileged · silver spoon · stately home · crisp
public school accentregional accent
Area-specific pronunciation style
Brummie · Geordie · Yorkshire accent · Mancunian · dialect
public, school, accent, publicly, publican, publication, publish, publisher, publishing