Upstairs-downstairs

adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Involving or relating to divisions or relations between different social classes, especially domestic servants and their upper-class employers. not-comparable

    "In Gilded-Age Newport, an upstairs-downstairs romance between a well-born son and a humble maid is cut short of marriage."

Example

More examples

"In Gilded-Age Newport, an upstairs-downstairs romance between a well-born son and a humble maid is cut short of marriage."

Etymology

From the practice of servants living on the lower floors or basements of grand houses, while their employers live on the upper floors.

More for "upstairs-downstairs"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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