higher ups

higher-ups

People who are especially important, influential, and authoritative, often in comparison to oneself. I don't have the authority to make a decision like that—you'll have to talk to one of the higher-ups. Did you hear that the higher-ups want us to wear uniforms now?
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

higher ups

verb
See high ups
See also: higher, UPS
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • wash (one's) hands of (someone or something)
  • wash hands of
  • wash one's hands of
  • wash your hands of
  • wash your hands of somebody/something
  • wash your hands of something/someone
  • above (one's) pay grade
  • beyond (one's) pay grade
  • for (one's) (own) sake
  • for sake
References in periodicals archive
This unique effort of team soybean project (Oilseeds Research Program, NARC) was highly appreciated by higher ups and audience and they are excited to hear more about soya by-products on commercial scale in future.
Is it possible for the higher ups to retain him in this position for a little longer?
Dr Nisar said he was suspended in May 2014 for unearthing a big spurious drug scandal in which some higher ups were involved.
'In a desperate move to gain favours from their higher ups they are surpassing all limits to prove themselves as more loyal than king,' he added.
Ranada together with another reporter persistently asked Cempron why she was barred from entering Malacanang but Cempron only said it was an order from 'higher ups,' which he was not able to identify.
Her losing to the higher ups at Litchfiel prison was a devastating outcome following Poussey's shocking demise in Season 4.
Seeking to stall any inquiry commission from undertaking probe into Snoopgate, the woman and her father have invoked their fundamental right to privacy and live with dignity as grounds for calling a halt to any move to investigate the surveillance of the woman by the Gujarat Police on the alleged instruction of higher ups.
A letter published today by the higher ups from the interchangeably time-suck/revolutionary tool indicates that the page, which called for protests across the Middle East on May 15th, passed Facebook's review process.
He complained to the higher ups and the police promptly returned the license, even though Tunney had not yet paid his fine.
"Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services" is a study from 1980, praised for its content on what the street level public servants face when dealing with the people and their higher ups. Worth reading for any curious or those on higher rungs of the public service ladder who want to change it for the better, "Street-Level Bureaucracy" rings true almost three decades later.
BUT YOU CAN BE SURE THAT ANY OF YOUR IDEAS THAT SURVIVE MY ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS EDITING AND FIND FAVOR FROM HIGHER UPS I'LL CLAIM AS MY OWN.
He was involved in a shady bank failure in Montreal, for example, though Zuckoff suggests that Ponzi may have been the fall guy for higher ups. He also served time in a relatively cushy federal penitentiary in Atlanta for helping bring several illegal immigrants over the border from Canada.
No one wants a bishop who seems to be more interested in adorning himself regally, or doing what pleases the "higher ups" for personal advancement.