upper class

/ˌʌpəˈklɑːs/

//ˌʌpəˈklɑːs// noun

"upper-class" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“upper class” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Those people at the top of a social hierarchy.

Corpus desk

Index EN-upper-class · upper class · English

upper class · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "U" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for upper class
PropertyValue
Headwordupper class
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌʌpəˈklɑːs/
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “upper class” in English

upper classsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

upper class is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌʌpəˈklɑːs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

upper class has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is upper class, spelled U-P-P-E-R- -C-L-A-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Those people at the top of a social hierarchy.
  2. 2
    The aristocracy.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "upper class"?
"upper class" is spelled U-P-P-E-R- -C-L-A-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌʌpəˈklɑːs/.
What does "upper class" mean?
As a noun, "upper class" means: Those people at the top of a social hierarchy.
How do you pronounce "upper class"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "upper class" is /ˌʌpəˈklɑːs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "upper class" come from?
"upper class" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list