Meaning of Wasp | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Alternative letter-case form of WASP.
   alt-of
2. Any of many types of stinging flying insect resembling a hornet.
3. Acronym of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, a member of the supposed ruling class of America.
   US, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
4. Alternative letter-case form of WASP (“white Anglo-Saxon Protestant”).
   alt-of
5. Any of the members of suborder Apocrita, excepting the ants (family Formicidae) and bees (clade Anthophila).
6. Initialism of Women Airforce Service Pilots.
   abbreviation, alt-of, historical, initialism
7. Any of the members of the family Vespidae.
8. A person who behaves in an angry or insolent way, hence waspishly.

Equivalents

Examples

“The show went through clothes to suit the lifestyle of a wealthy wasp, an American archetype that is now synonymous with the brand.”

“Bill got to college only by dint of support from a female relative and heiress (a useful WASP resource) and by scholarships, then a symbol of WASP entitlement.”

“Joseph Alsop, the acerbic columnist she married in 1961, called his crowd “the ever-diminishing group of survivors of the WASP ascendancy.” It was a world of perfect manners and closely held power, not hugs and meaningful exchanges.”

“Growing up in white suburbs and attending elite schools and institutions of higher learning, black American prince and princesses are immersed in Anglo (often WASP) culture and emerge with modes of speech, behavior and grooming that brand them as "Oreos," black on the outside and white in the middle.”

“We once had a coherent ruling class, the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs), who more or less owned and ran the United States from its founding through the 1970s. Based largely in the Northeast, with offshoots in the Upper Midwest, WASPs went to the same elite schools and colleges, belonged to the same clubs, married out of the same pool, and vacationed in the same favorite rural retreats. There were Southern WASPs, descendants of the slave-owning gentry, but they never had the social weight of their northern relatives—although they did rule their region and enjoy an outsized role in Congress for decades.”

“Purists like to confine Wasps to descendants of the British Isles; less exacting analysts are willing to throw in Scandinavians, Netherlanders and Germans. At the narrowest, Wasps form a select band of well-heeled, well-descended members of the Eastern Establishment; at the widest, they include Okies and Snopeses, "Holy Rollers" and hillbillies.”

CEFR level