One-percenter
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A member of the top one percent of a population by wealth, ability, etc. (same as the ninety-ninth percentile), especially in a society with high wealth inequality.
"An upper one-percenter in the income and wealth distributions, Rubin commuted by private jet between the tony Jefferson Hotel in Washington and his Park home in New York."
- 2 An esoteric joke which is unlikely to be appreciated by a general audience.
- 3 One who wishes to be recognized for an idea without putting forth the "ninety-nine percent perspiration" needed to implement that idea.
- 4 An outlaw biker, such as a member of the Hells Angels motorcycle club.
"The patch holders themselves recognize that within the framework of the club there exists a radical faction - "the heavies" or "one percenters"."
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"An upper one-percenter in the income and wealth distributions, Rubin commuted by private jet between the tony Jefferson Hotel in Washington and his Park home in New York."
Etymology
From one percent + -er. After Thomas Edison: Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. The motorcycling sense comes from a supposed statement made by the American Motorcycle Association in 1948 that 99% of motorcyclists are good people enjoying a clean sport, and it is only 1% who are antisocial.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.