Meanings
plural coastal elites
- USderogatoryliterallyoftengovernmentA certain stereotype of an extraordinarily wealthy person who is out of touch or privileged compared to the average person.
- USderogatoryconservatismgovernmentA stereotype of an extraordinarily wealthy leftist who is often egotistical and out of touch with the needs of the nation at large.
- A dogwhistle for Jewish people, often caricatured as wealthy leftist financiers.
Origin
The term coastal is used specifically to refer to both California at large and the Washington D.C.-New York City areas, located on the West and East Coasts respectively, where many wealthy people live due to concentrations of commerce and financial endeavors, as well as higher costs of living. The conservative and Nazi ascriptions to specifically left-leaning individuals comes from the higher rate of people who hold progressive or leftist political beliefs in major urban areas.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
coastal elite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coastal%20elite
“coastal elite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coastal%20elite. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “coastal elite,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coastal%20elite.
Source: coastal elite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.