top ten percent
Cream of crop
Top ten percent refers to the highest-ranking tenth of a group, typically measured by income, test scores, academic performance, or other metrics.
The phrase often appears in discussions of wealth inequality or academic achievement: She graduated in the top ten percent of her class.
In some U.S. states, students in the top ten percent of their high school class gain automatic college admission.
- eliteSuperior select group
- wealthyHaving abundant financial resources
- upper crustSocial elite class
- old moneyLong-established family fortune
- privilegedHaving special advantages
top tier · achievers · cream · echelon · exclusive · earners · income bracket · ranking · threshold · affluent · meritocracy · ivy · valedictorian · class rank · college admissions · bracket · income · cutoff
- Academic Honorscum laude, summa cum laude, dean's list, honor roll, valedictorian
- degree honorsthird class, honors degree, cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude
- academic ranksprofessor, lecturer, full professor, assistant professor, associate professor
- Quantilesquantile, quartile, quintile, decile, centile
top ten percentdead last
Finishing behind all others
bottom of the barrel · last place · bottom half · rock bottom · cellar dwellers
top ten percentthe masses
Common populace collectively
the common people · rank and file · average Joe · hoi polloi · commoners
top ten percentunderperformers
Those achieving below potential
failures · also-rans · washouts · flunkouts · stragglers
percent, topped, topping, topmost, topper, tenth, percentage, percentile