one-percenter
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.93 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A member of the top one percent of a population by wealth, ability, etc. (same as the ninety-ninth percentile), especially in a society with high wealth inequality.
noun
An individual who seeks recognition for an idea without contributing the substantial effort required to realize or implement it.
Example Sentences
- "An upper one-percenter in the income and wealth distributions, Rubin commuted by private jet between the tony Jefferson Hotel in Washington and his Park home in New York."
- "When critics pointer out that the bulk of his tax cut went to the wealthiest one percent of American […], after Bush got finished spinning, it's amazing how many Americans ended up feeling sorry for those poor, deprived one percenters."
- ""But a few survive, those with the right genetic trait, the one-percenters that will carry on and reproduce that trait.""
- "[Y]ou've been one of the "one-percenters." You've always been in that rarefied top one percent of the people doing whatever you were doing at any given moment in your life."
- "I'd perfected my game, flying first-class all over the world, staying in five-star resort hotels, and seducing scores of one-percenters into stashing their fortunes in Swiss numbered accounts, no questions asked."
- "The patch holders themselves recognize that within the framework of the club there exists a radical faction - "the heavies" or "one percenters"."
Etymology
From one percent + -er. After Thomas Edison, who wrote: "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." The motorcycling sense comes from a supposed statement made by the American Motorcycle Association in 1948 that 99% of motorcyclists are decent people enjoying a clean sport, and it is only 1% who are antisocial.