déclassé
Americanadjective
-
reduced to or having low or lower status.
a once-chic restaurant that had become completely déclassé.
-
reduced or belonging to a lower or low social class, position, or rank.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of déclassé
1885–1890; < French, past participle of déclasser. See de-, class
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
By elevating quotidian subject matter to a sublime frenzy of saturated hues, he established color photography as an art form during the 1960s and ’70s, when it had been dismissed as déclassé.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
This general variety of business has often been viewed as déclassé, the province of fast-talking hustlers.
From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2023
A cut once deemed déclassé is now at the forefront of chicness.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 19, 2022
And if it is so déclassé, why does every brand, even the fanciest among them, have a salted version?
From Salon • Aug. 25, 2021
The most typical instance is the feeling of the American Jew for Palestine, which may well become a focus for his déclassé kinsmen in other parts of the world.
From The War and Democracy by
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
