Word of the Day

: March 2, 2012

yuppify

verb YUP-uh-fye

What It Means

: to make appealing to yuppies; also : to infuse with the qualities or values of yuppies

yuppify in Context

While rent prices in the city have fallen, the neighborhoods that were relatively recently yuppified remain too expensive for most city residents.

"Celebrating 60 years of racing in 2009, Darlington Raceway ... is the grand-dad of all NASCAR tracks, the first ever to host a major race. While it's not as plush as the new, ritzier raceways built to accommodate the sport's push to yuppify its ranks, this is still an impressive sight right on Highway 52 and a bit of living history." - From Jim Morekis' 2009 Moon South Carolina guidebook (Moon Handbooks)

Did You Know?

"Yuppie" and "yuppify" are products of the 1980s, but they owe a debt to predecessors from the 1960s and 1970s. "Hippie" (a long-haired unconventionally dressed young person who rejects societal mores; from "hip," meaning "cool") first appeared in print in 1953. "Yippie" (a politically active hippie; from Youth International Party) followed "hippie" into the language in 1968. "Gentrification" and "gentrify" (referring to the effects of influxes of relatively affluent people into deteriorating neighborhoods; from "gentry") made their debuts in 1964 and 1972, respectively. "Yuppie" (a young well-paid professional who lives and works in or near an urban area; probably from young urban professional; influenced by "hippie" and "yippie") hit the press in 1981. "Yuppify" and "yuppification" (patterned after "gentrify" and "gentrification") joined the lexicon in 1984.