People who are superior in some way, such as in rank, wealth, intelligence, or skill.
From Old English 'betera,' the comparative form of 'good.' The noun form meaning 'superior people' developed naturally from the adjective, referring to those who are 'better than' someone else.
Historically, 'betters' was a strict social term—the working class was expected to show deference to their 'betters,' which rigidly encoded class hierarchy into everyday language!
Historically used to denote social superiors (often male, propertied); gender + class intersected in 'betters' — women of lower status deferred to men of higher status.
Use 'betters' for historical/literary contexts; in modern usage, prefer 'superiors' or 'those with more expertise' to avoid naturalizing hierarchies.
["superiors","those with more expertise","senior colleagues"]
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.