top hatn.
/ˌtɒp ˈhat/, U.S. /ˈtɑp ˌhæt/ 1.
a. A man's silk or beaver hat with high cylindrical crown; a tall or high hat.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > hat > tall > cylindrical > top hat
stovepipe1851
bell-topper1858
top hat1881
tile-hat1937
1881 M. E. Braddon Asphodel xvi She liked to have her son well-dressed and in a top-hat.
1883 E. F. Knight Cruise of ‘Falcon’ II. 66 Men in black coats and top-hats.
1886 J. K. Jerome Idle Thoughts xiii How I do hate a top hat!
1905 A. R. Wallace My Life I. 17 He always wore a top-hat—a beaver hat as it was then called, before silk hats were invented.
b. transferred. A person of the kind or class that wears a top hat; an important or senior person (see also quot. 1938).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > one who is important
persona1425
personagec1460
colossus1605
satrapon1650
bigwig1772
big man1789
butt-cut1806
tallboy1820
buzz-wig1854
great or high shot1861
celestial1874
pot1880
big stuff1883
importance1886
big wheel1893
mandarin1907
the (also a) big noise1909
hotty1910
big boy1918
biggie1926
hotshot1933
wheel1933
eminence1935
top hat1936
big or great white chief1937
Mr Big1940
big kahuna1966
1936 Amer. Speech 11 221 The ermines and top-hats, the carriage trade of the early part of the century.
1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xix. 209 It's no good here, boys, there are too many top-hats (detectives).
1974 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 4 Oct. 7/1 Mr. White brought Mr. Benoit along to the Albany Club, and the Tory party tophats liked what they saw.
2. attributive.
a. With reference to the wearing of top hats.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing headgear > wearing a hat > types of
flat-headed1667
straw-hattedc1730
beavered1742
cocked-hatted1821
slouch-hatted1826
high-hatted1858
plug-hatted1869
sun-helmeted1886
pot-hatted1888
sou'-westered1891
cowboy-hatted1896
sombreroed1899
top hat1902
picture-hatted1906
bowler-hatted1909
sailor-hatted1909
tile-hatted1924
Stetsoned1935
trilbied1966
trilby-hatted1975
1902 R. Hichens Londoners 159 Another top-hat Ascot! I wish the Prince would set the fashion of billycocks.
1966 Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 13 Dec. (1970) 461 Lyndon made a splendid toast. He said he wanted American art to be enjoyed at the grass-roots level, just as it is by the top-hat crowd.
b. Shaped like a top hat.
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the world > space > shape > curvature > curved three-dimensional shape or body > cylinder > [adjective] > of other cylindrical shapes
caked1686
tuberose1704
cucumiform1826
sausage-like1852
bolt1859
cigar-shaped1887
torpedo-shaped1903
sausagey1921
whale-shaped1930
Zeppelinistic1930
top hat1958
1958 Engineering 14 Mar. 344/2 Shallow ‘top-hat’ sections are used for the horizontal rails.
1967 M. Chandler Ceramics in Mod. World ii. 83 (caption) A ‘top-hat’ kiln loaded for firing.
3. Passing into adj. Designating insurance or pension schemes devised as a means of deferred payment for senior executives.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > grants and allowances > [adjective] > pension > types of
non-contributory1907
top hat1952
portable1965
1952 Economist 8 Nov. 417/1 ‘Top-hat’ contracts for higher executives.
1964 Daily Tel. 16 Apr. 23/1 The annual check on senior executives under the ‘top-hat scheme’, because of the neurosis it created, was a pernicious plan.
1979 Guardian 18 June 10/4 It would be good to know that the company car, the top hat pension,..will not survive the axe next spring.
Derivatives
ˈtop-ˈhatted adj. wearing a top-hat.
Π
1892 Spectator 27 Feb. 305/1 To wonder at pig-tailed China and top-hatted Japan.
1900 Westm. Gaz. 21 Aug. 8/1 Of every social standing, from the top-hatted City man to the picturesque newspaper urchin.
ˈtop-ˈhatter n. one who wears a top-hat.
Π
1892 R. Buchanan in Pall Mall Gaz. 19 July 3/2 Far from the realms of hansoms and top-hatters all.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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n.1881