smart set

noun

1. sophisticated, fashionable people as a group:

   a shop catering to the smart set.

smart set

noun

1. functioning as singular or plural fashionable sophisticated people considered as a group

Word History and Origins

Origin of smart set¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Idioms and Phrases

A fashionable social group, as in This restaurant has been discovered by the smart set . This idiom may be obsolescent. [Late 1800s]

Example Sentences

Read: Honor Levy’s “My First Book” captures the quiet desperation of today’s smart set.

From New York Times

Days earlier, Condé Nast folded Pitchfork, once a kingmaker among music’s smart set, into GQ magazine and laid off employees, including the editor in chief.

From New York Times

As time went on, though, “Abie’s Irish Rose” lived long enough to generate what Schildcrout called “a begrudging respect” for the play among the smart set.

From New York Times

David Zinn contributes a smart set design, with a central, rounded brick apartment building whose walls part to reveal street scenes, hotel suites and showgirl-filled stages.

From Washington Post

But his niche in the niche-songwriting world of the cabaret smart set, when such a breed still existed, was lofty.

From New York Times

Related Words

• aristocracy
• blue blood
• jet set
• upper class