the chosen few

the chosen few

A select group of individuals who receive preferential treatment or an elevated status. The phrase sometimes implies the belief that the treatment or status is arbitrary or undeserved. It's like the only people who can become politicians are the chosen few who come from the same universities and have the same last names.
See also: chosen, few
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • a sacred cow
  • (one) puts (one's) pants on one leg at a time
  • check your privilege
  • all present and accounted for
  • be in the picture
  • fetch up
  • all present and correct
  • a cat may look at a king
  • sweep back to (something)
  • a cat can look at a king
References in classic literature
A man might be respected with only one of these advantages, but without either he was considered, except in very rare instances, as a vagabond and a slave, doomed to waste his powers for the profits of the chosen few! And what was I?
A few years ago he had landed in England friendless and unknown, to-day he had stepped out from even amongst the chosen few and had planted his feet in the higher lands whither the faces of all men are turned.
Then there are a select few - the chosen few, literally because we chose them in elections - that took the taxpayer for every cent.
Beaujolois was among the chosen few who saw the vital invasion plans months in advance.
Did he die for the salvation of only the chosen few? Or for all humanity?
The FIA maintained that the former director general gave contracts to the chosen few and used below standard construction material for the construction projects.
The Chosen Few: A Company of Paratroopers and Its Heroic Struggle to Survive in the Mountains of Afghanistan, by Gregg Zoroya.
The Chosen Few: A Company of Paratroopers and its Heroic Struggle to Survive in the Mountains of Afghanistan tells the story of a company nicknamed "Chosen Few" whose mission was to promote the Afghan government's influence in a remote region of the country.
'Indeed, she was known by so many names, among them a rare politician who achieved a rock star status and in the tradition of UP Vanguard, she belongs to the 'chosen few.' This Luksang Parangal is a tribute to the chosen few who gave their lives for dreams stronger than death,' he added.
As the rich, powerful and famous go about their lives, they appear to buy into the notion that they are the chosen few.
First impressions go a long way and going by his display on the field he is not being affected by nerves and like the chosen few has lifted his game along with this added responsibility.
Stuart, 20, from Brampton, near Carlisle, will now wait to see if he is one of the chosen few invited to take part for a place on the UK squad for WorldSkills 2017 in Abu Dhabi.
To grasp the value and challenge of The Chosen Few, one must first appreciate its disciplinary rootedness in economic history, the sole conceptual lens through which Botticini and Eckstein examine the very worthwhile, if broad, research question that drives them.
Muholi was there with the South African lesbian team, The Chosen Few. As we're talking, I recall one of their players telling me that some of their teammates hadn't made it to London.
HEAVY FIRE: THE CHOSEN FEW (Nintendo 3DS) THE last thing we need is another war-based shooter game.