top shelf
Best, or high quality.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“This wine is top shelf.”
“She only buys top shelf ingredients when cooking for special guests.”
“The critic praised the novel as top shelf, placing it among the finest works of contemporary fiction.”
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.
- 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”).
- 02
fly off the shelves
To be sold in large quantities, very rapidly.
- 03
grass tops
Of, related to, or involving local influential figures.
- 04
hit the shelves
To become available for purchase.
- 05
on top
In a dominant position.
- 06
over the top
Beyond normal, expected, or reasonable limits; outrageous.
- 07
put the bottom rail on top
To reverse a hierarchy.
- 08
top banana
The boss, the leader.
Last updated August 10, 2026