society

A phrase used to describe the rich and famous subset of society of who spend much of their time going to trendy places, especially in the early 20th century. My grandmother always says that my favorite Hollywood gossip magazines talk about "café society," whatever that is.

A disparaging term for two (or more) people who engage in lavish mutual praise and admiration. I can't stand working with Tony and Linda. They praise each other from the moment they walk through the door—it's like they've formed a mutual admiration society!

To serve the sentence given to one upon conviction of a crime. In the eyes of the law, he has paid his debt to society, so he shouldn't be facing any further punishment for his past crimes. I spent nearly 15 years in prison—I paid my debt to society!

To serve the sentence given to one upon conviction of a crime. In the eyes of the law, he has paid his dues to society, so he shouldn't be facing any further punishment for his past crimes. I spent nearly 15 years in prison—I paid my dues to society!

One who is a particularly active, respected, and influential member of one's local social sphere. My grandfather was a pillar of society because of how many people his businesses employed. She was long considered a pillar of society, so she won the mayoral election with ease.

One who is a particularly active, respected, and influential member of one's local social sphere. My grandfather was a pillar of the community because of how many people his businesses employed. She was long considered a pillar of the community, so she won the mayoral election with ease.

A relationship in which two people have strong feelings of esteem for each other and often exchange lavish compliments. The term may signify either genuine or pretended admiration, as in Each of them praised the other's book-it was a real mutual admiration society. The expression was invented by Henry David Thoreau in his journal (1851) and repeated by Oliver Wendell Holmes and others.

see under mutual admiration society.

If you describe someone as a pillar of society or a pillar of the community, you mean that they are an active and respected member of a group of people. He is a pillar of society, the son every mother would love to have. My father had been a pillar of the community.

Prominent in fashionable society, implying wealth and position. The term dates from the first half of the 1900s and was used as the title of a popular film of 1956, starring Grace Kelly (in her last acting role), Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, and others, and featuring some songs by Cole Porter. See also upper crust.

A shared feeling of esteem, real or pretended, between two individuals for each other. This reciprocal relationship was first so called by Thoreau in 1851 and picked up by Oliver Wendell Holmes in The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table (1858). Today we often use the term sarcastically for individuals who publicly pay lavish compliments to each other but may have little respect for each other in private, or who admire each other but are not highly regarded by others.

A chief supporter of one’s community, social group, or other institution. The earliest example of being such a pillar dates from the early fourteenth century and involves a pillar of the church, which Eric Partridge deemed a particularly objectionable cliché by 1800 or so. Shakespeare used a slightly different locution in The Merchant of Venice; at the trial Shylock says, “I charge you by the law, whereof you are a well-deserving pillar,” presumably hoping that the judge will respond favorably to this compliment. From the late nineteenth century on, pillar of society was often used sarcastically or pejoratively, the target generally being both the individual and the society being upheld. Ibsen so used it in his play, translated as Pillars of Society (1877), and his example was followed by Shaw and others. Still another variant, pillar of the community, may be used either ironically or straightforwardly.

The collective term for socialites and movie celebrities who frequented fashionable restaurants and nightclubs. From the end of World War I through the 1960s, the media covered the comings and goings of members of Society (with a capital S, the word referred to people of “good family,” which in turn meant old money), and glamorous movie stars much as celebrity-chroniclers now report on Paris Hilton, Brad/Angelina, TV reality show personalities, and other boldface celebrities. Among the more popular haunts were Manhattan's Stork Club and El Morocco nightclubs. Then as now, a substantial portion of the population was interested in the lives of their social betters, and newspaper gossip columnists reported on party- and club-goers in the next day's editions. It was one such scribe, Maury Paul (pen-name: Cholly Knickerbocker) who coined the phrase “café society.”

Two or more people who lavishly praise the other person's or people's personalities and accomplishments, often far beyond what is deserved. The phrase, which is said to have originated with Henry David Thoreau in 1851, may have been used earlier. Its use as the title of a song from the 1956 musical comedy Happy Hunting that was successfully recorded by a number of singers boosted the phrase's popularity.