The chattering classes is a politically active, socially concerned and highly educated section of the "metropolitan middle class",[1] especially those with political, media, and academic connections. It is a generally derogatory term,[1] often used by pundits and political commentators.
United Kingdom
It is sometimes used to refer to a
antonym to the older idea of an unrepresented silent majority, made notable by the U.S. Republican Party President Richard Nixon
.
United States
In the United States, the term has come to be used by both the left and right and to describe political opponents, with Stephen Perrault of the Merriam-Webster dictionary suggesting that the term has "connotations of idleness, of useless talk, that the noun 'chatter' does. ... These people don't amount to much—they like to hear themselves talk."[3]
