Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

top shelf

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.01 in modern English

Syllables
top shelf
IPA
16
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
1
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Best, or high quality.

American usage

adj

Describing books, magazines, or movies that have adult content or softcore pornography.

British usage

noun

The upper part of the goal.

Canadian usage

Example Sentences

Etymology

* (US: best, or high quality): Possibly from the higher quality, thus more expensive, thus less often used liquors being stored on the less accessible top shelf behind a wet bar. * (British: material with adult content): Such material is often stored on the top shelf in a newsagent's shop, where it is both less visible and harder to reach without being seen.

Usage

Inflected Forms

top-shelf (alternative) top shelves (plural)

Synonyms

top notch ace admirable amazing awe-inspiring awesome badass broyal bang on bang-up studly based

Questions

What does top shelf mean?
Best, or high quality.
Where does top shelf come from?
* (US: best, or high quality): Possibly from the higher quality, thus more expensive, thus less often used liquors being stored on the less accessible top shelf behind a wet bar. * (British: material with adult content): Such material is often stored on the top shelf in a newsagent's shop, where it is both less visible and harder to reach without being seen.

How to pronounce top shelf

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “top shelf”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “top shelf”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “top shelf” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.