higher classn.adj.

1737 Mem. Soc. Grub-St. I. Pref. p. xiv That any number of readers of the higher class would give incouragement to the sale of such stolen goods, we could not well imagine.

1786 R. Price Let. 11 Dec. in Corr. (1994) III. 100 The Aid your Plan will receive from the higher Classes and the gratuitous Subscribers, will render it, as it is constructed, adequate to its own Support.

1802 F. W. Blagdon tr. P. S. Pallas Trav. Southern Provinces Russ. Empire I. 399 Their girls..are provided with laced stays, or a broad girdle made of untanned leather: this singular coat of mail is among the common people tightly sewed round the waist, but in the higher classes it is fastened with silver hooks, so that they are obliged to wear it till their wedding-night.

1866 E. Davies Higher Educ. Women iv. 74 The duties of women of the higher class are such as to demand varied knowledge as well as a disciplined mind and character.

1905 J. R. Swanton in Proc. 13th​ Internat. Congr. Americanists 1902 333 There were many low-class families or low divisions of families called ‘food-steamers’, which usually had no chief at all and generally lived in mean houses or acted as servants in the houses of the higher classes.

1946 Amer. Sociol. Rev. 11 171/1 The fundamental characteristics of the higher class are the same from time immemorial. Aristotle points out among them, ‘pride of birth or wealth’.

2008 J. Wasserman Secrets Masonic Washington 28 Social distinctions..ceased to be either chains of bondage for the more talented members of the lower classes or badges of privilege for incompetent members of the higher classes.

1843 Bent's Monthly Literary Advertiser 11 Dec. 179/2 (advt.) A desire expressed by the higher class schools..to lay a foundation for a scientific knowledge of Geography.

1849 Amer. Railroad Jrnl. 27 Jan. 57/1 The passengers having transferred themselves from the higher class carriages into the open third class carriages, tempted by the difference of fares.

1887 Scotsman 9 Dec. 7/2 He thought Mr Elliot was a higher class man.

1952 Jrnl. Educ. Sociol. 25 448 Lower class children have essentially the same average intelligence as higher class children.

1961 Public Opinion Q. 25 456 Regarding financial concerns it was found that..students from higher-class origins are less worried about finances.

2011 R. S. Yoder Deviance & Inequality in Japan ii. 39 A scattering of other studies also indicates that working-class youth engage in youth deviant behaviour (including crime) more than higher-class youth.