crème de la crème

See also: creme de la creme and Crème de la Crème

English

Alternative forms

• creme de la creme

Etymology

Borrowed from French crème de la crème (literally “cream of the cream”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (UK):

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Noun

crème de la crème (uncountable)

1. (idiomatic, singular only) Best of the best; something superlative; the very best.

   To be an astronaut you must be the crème de la crème.

   • 1961, Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, page 14:

     ‘Plainly,’ said Miss Brodie, ‘you were not listening to me. If only you small girls would listen to me I would make of you the crème de la crème.’

   • 2024 October 8, Megan Uy, Tarah-Lynn Saint-Elien, “65+ Fall Prime Day Fashion Deals Your Closet Is Begging You to Shop”, in Cosmopolitan‎^[1]:

     Whether you've been on the hunt for a pair of quality overalls or you just wanna cosplay as Mrs. Robert Rausch (the ‘Love Island’ girlies know), these ones from Dickies are the crème de la crème.

Synonyms

• cream of the crop
• best of the best
• pick of the crop

Translations

best of the best

• Danish: creme de la creme c
• Dutch: crème de la crème
• Finnish: kerma (fi), parhaimmisto (fi)
• French: crème de la crème (fr) f, top du top (fr) m, fin du fin (fr) m, fine fleur (fr) f, nec plus ultra (fr) m
• German: Crème de la Crème (de) f
• Indonesian: crème de la crème
• Norwegian: crème de la crème, kremen av kremen, der oppe
• Polish: śmietanka (pl) f
• Portuguese: nata da sociedade f
• Spanish: lo mejor de lo mejor, flor y nata (es)
• Swedish: gräddan (only in definite form)

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʁɛm də la kʁɛm/

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

crème de la crème f (uncountable)

1. crème de la crème (the best of something)

   Synonym: fine fleur

Descendants

• → Danish: creme de la creme, crème de la crème
• → Dutch: crème de la crème
• → English: crème de la crème, creme de la creme
• → German: Crème de la Crème
• → Norwegian: crème de la crème