social elite
High society members
The social elite are those at the top of a society's hierarchy—people with wealth, power, influence, or prestigious connections that set them apart from ordinary citizens.
The term often carries critical undertones, suggesting exclusivity or unearned privilege: The social elite summer in the Hamptons while everyone else works.
Elite functions as both noun and adjective: elite institutions, the elite.
- upper crustSocial elite class
- magnateWealthy business leader
- tycoonDominant industrial leader
- nobilityTitled ruling class
- high societyThe social elite
trendsetter · connections · tastemaker · wealth · affluence · cotillion · blueblood · aristocracy · billionaire · old money · landed gentry · country estate · policymaker · patrician · debutante · monarch · patronage · privileged
- high societygossip, socialites, socialite, aristocrats, aristocrat
- upper classaristocrat, nobles, baron, baroness, baronet
- elite educationboarding schools, prep schools, private schools, international schools, Eton
- elite networksold boys network, old boys club, inner circle, inner circles, cronyism
- eliteelites, aristocrats, nobility, best, finest
- snobberysnob, snobbery, snooty, elitism, snoot
social elitethe masses
Common populace collectively
lower class · underclass · common people · working class · proletariat
social eliteordinary people
Everyday individuals, unremarkable
everyman · Joe Public · John Q. Public · grassroots · regular folks
social elitethe masses
Common populace collectively
general public · general population · mainstream · everyman · average Joe