| 释义 |
upper-middle-class, a. and n.
[upper a. 8 b.]
A. adj. Of, pertaining to, or characterized by the class of polite society next below the upper class.
1872Times 26 Dec. 5/4 Upper and upper middle-class society is represented in all its grades. 1906Galsworthy Man of Property i. i. 3 Those privileged to be present at a family festival of the Forsytes have seen..an upper middle-class family in full plumage. 1949W. L. Warner in M. Fortes Social Structure 4 Excerpts from the Total Configuration of an upper-middle-class doctor illustrate how this technique is used. 1967M. Argyle Psychol. Interpersonal Behaviour iv. 80 English upper-middle-class speech includes considerable understatement; a person who fails to follow this convention is regarded as boastful. 1982‘W. Haggard’ Mischief-Makers ii. 20 Willy's skin was the colour of coal... He thought of himself as an upper-middle-class Englishman.
B. n.
1. Usu. unhyphened. This class itself, or its members.
c1885M. Darwin Let. in G. Raverat Period Piece (1952) vi. 98 The upper middle class think they are acting rightly by over-protecting their daughters. 1891H. D. Traill in National Rev. Mar. 15 The great body of the upper middle classes. 1903G. Gissing Private Papers H. Ryecroft 210 A lad whose education ranks him with the upper middle class. 1923A. Bennett Riceyman Steps i. ii. 5 He had the air neither of a bookman nor of a member of the upper-middle class. 1955H. Roth Sleeper xii. 99 Stamford, Connecticut, is a typical transplanting ground of the upper middle class. 1965R. Williams in Tribune 5 Mar. 1/5 The English upper-middle class.
2. ellipt. as upper-middle, a member of the upper middle class. Usu. in pl.
1955[see middle-middle s.v. middle a. 6]. 1967Economist 18 Feb. 607/2 In Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, the upper-middles do not choose to live in the city. 1978R. Westall Devil on Road xv. 111 When my parents quarrel, they..fight in hoarse whispers. But like a lot of upper-middles..Derek and Susan let it all hang out. |