Meanings
alternative top-shelf
- UKidiomaticnot comparableDescribing books, magazines, or movies that have adult content or softcore pornography.
Most of the band used to buy Autotrader to read on the various bus and plane journeys, but Barry would always turn up with a copy of Underwear Unlimited or some other seedy little top-shelf mag.
2008, Rick Wakeman, Martin Roach, Grumpy Old Rock Star, →ISBN, page 83
plural top shelves · alternative top-shelf
- CanadahobbiesThe upper part of the goal.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveBest, or high quality.
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.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
top shelf. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/top%20shelf
“top shelf.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/top%20shelf. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “top shelf,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/top%20shelf.
Source: top shelf on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.