ENGLISH
REFERENCE

top shelf

idiom
Meaning

Best, or high quality.


Origin

disputed origin

* (US: best, or high quality): Possibly from the higher quality, thus more expensive, thus less often used liquors being stored on the less accessible top shelf behind a wet bar. * (British: material with adult content): Such material is often stored on the top shelf in a newsagent's shop, where it is both less visible and harder to reach without being seen.

Examples
SIMPLE

This wine is top shelf.

CONTEXTUAL

She only buys top shelf ingredients when cooking for special guests.

COMPLEX

The critic praised the novel as top shelf, placing it among the finest works of contemporary fiction.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    cherry on top

    Synonym of icing on the cake (“a thing which intensifies the appreciation of something already good, or (ironic) the regretting of something already bad”).

  2. 02

    on top

    In a dominant position.

  3. 03

    over the top

    Beyond normal, expected, or reasonable limits; outrageous.

  4. 04

    put the bottom rail on top

    To reverse a hierarchy.

  5. 05

    top banana

    The boss, the leader.

  6. 06

    top cat

    Synonym of top dog.

  7. 07

    top dog

    The boss, the leader (of the pack).

  8. 08

    top dollar

    The maximum amount of money that an item, service, or worker is worth; a very high price.

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