coastal elite

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. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “When did this term come into usage?”)

coastal elite (plural coastal elites)

1. (literally, chiefly US politics, often derogatory) A certain stereotype of an extraordinarily wealthy person who is out of touch or privileged compared to the average person.^[1]
2. (conservatism, derogatory, US politics) A stereotype of an extraordinarily wealthy leftist who is often egotistical and out of touch with the needs of the nation at large.^[2][3]
3. (neo-Nazism) A dogwhistle for Jewish people, often caricatured as wealthy leftist financiers.

• Depending on the ideology of whoever uses this term, it may have a variety of sociological, economic or political implications which are difficult to definitively parse when used in informal conversation. For example, a liberal person may use it to refer to people such as capitalists or politicians who support or enact unpopular legislation, while more conservative people may use it to refer specifically to certain socialites who hold left-leaning ideals or who are prominent in popular culture and mass media.
• Very often used collectively in the plural.

• liberal elite