poor tenant farmers working for landed gentry the old-line yachting gentry frowns on vulgar displays of wealth
Recent Examples on the WebSome of the gentry might prosper and over the decades expand their presence to additional households, while others might go penniless and turn over their properties to those still or newly rich. Rafil Kroll-zaidi, Harper’s Magazine , 17 Aug. 2022 You gentry will never manage to get beyond noble resignation or noble indignation, and those are no good to anyone. Keith Gessen, The New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2022 John Betteridge was a silversmith who made snuff boxes and match holders for the English gentry. Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 9 Nov. 2021 In the nineteenth century, that image was crystallized in the bearded figure of Leo Tolstoy, who spoke out against the greed and corruption of the Russian gentry and the war in Japan. Jennifer Wilson, Harper’s Magazine , 25 May 2022 The Pew poll underscores that the gentry left’s preoccupation with dividing America by race is unpopular. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 28 Apr. 2022 Lister, who was born in West Yorkshire and lived during the height of the Industrial Revolution, was a member of the rural gentry who leaped over her father, the heir apparent, to run her family’s modest estate.NBC News, 29 Apr. 2022 One depicted a climb from peasants through merchants, landed gentry, and aristocrats. Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2022 After industrialization, the old gentry tended to marry the ownership class and disengage from feudal bonds. Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English gentrie "high birth or rank, properties ideally characteristic of those of high birth, the wellborn collectively," borrowed from Anglo-French genterie "high birth," from gent "of aristocratic birth" + -erie-ery — more at gent entry 1