Silk-stocking

adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Elegantly dressed; aristocratic; luxurious. archaic, derogatory, not-comparable

    "June 11, 1812, Thomas Jefferson, letter to Elbridge Gerry [They] will find their levees crowded with silk-stocking gentry, but no yeomanry; an army of officers without soldiers."

Example

More examples

"June 11, 1812, Thomas Jefferson, letter to Elbridge Gerry [They] will find their levees crowded with silk-stocking gentry, but no yeomanry; an army of officers without soldiers."

Etymology

Among men, silk stockings were formerly worn chiefly by the rich.

More for "silk-stocking"

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.