status symbol

plural status symbols

1. A visible possession that is a sign of one's personal wealth or social status.

   It can be a good thing for biodiversity to have a turkey or tomato become a status symbol. [...] [T]he heirloom tomato does not decrease in availability when it becomes a symbol of elite status and good taste.

   2015, Jennifer A. Jordan, “A Short History of Heirloom Tomatoes”, in Edible Memory: The Lure of Heirloom Tomatoes & Other Forgotten Foods, Chicago, Ill.; London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 65

   3 more examples

   There are power mowers, which industry and technology are efficiently building noisier and noisier and bigger and bigger. And it seems that the power mower is something that is a status symbol now, and the rate of status depends on the amount of noise that you are able to put out.

   1971 August 18, Edward C. Fritz (witness), “Statement of Edward C. Fritz, Air Quality Coalition of North Central Texas”, in Public Hearings on Noise Abatement and Control […], volumes III (Urban Planning, Architectural Design; and Noise in the Home), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, published 1973, →OCLC, page 5

   In addition to facilitating identification, status symbols have two other functions. First, they act to dignify relationships, to bring a sense of formality or respectability to the situation. [...] Second, status symbols are often important in motivation. One has to be amazed at the time and effort that a high school athlete will invest to earn the right to wear a letter jacket—which his parents will have to purchase in many school districts!

   1995, Larry C. Ingram, “What’s in a Name? The Significance of Position”, in The Study of Organizations: Positions, Persons, and Patterns, Westport, Conn.; London: Praeger Publishing, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 31

   Her [Kate Spade's] name became a shorthand for the cute, clever bags that were an instant hit with cosmopolitan women in the early stages of their careers and, later, young girls – status symbols of a more attainable, all-American sort than a Fendi clutch or Chanel bag.

   2018 June 5, Jonah Engel Bromwich, Vanessa Friedman, Matthew Schneier, “Kate Spade, whose handbags carried women into adulthood, is dead at 55”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 06 Jun 2018