respectables

All the monopolists, all the coupon-clipping foundations, all the tax-exempt eleemosynary institutions-in short, all the "respectables" - would join in a howling defense of the status quo.

Anarchist news dot org - Comments 2010

I was sorry to hear of this breach of the peace, as I foresaw that an advantage would be taken of the circumstance, to inflame the minds of those who were perhaps as yet only half bent upon the diabolical plot against the liberties of the people, and that it would be used as a plausible pretext to alarm the more timid part of those who are called the respectables of Manchester.

Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 3 Henry Hunt 1804

That he marched to his own drummer can be seen in his dispatch from the 1963 March on Washington for civil rights, in which he criticized "respectables" for muting "Negro militancy" into support of JFK's inadequate program, and referred to Martin Luther King as "a little too saccharine for my taste."

Jeff Cohen: Izzy Stone, Patron Saint of Bloggers 2008

Where we have evidence of violations of the law by these "respectables," we will take action against the individuals involved as well as against their companies.

Law Day Address at the University of Georgia Law School 1961

There, owing to the fact that the "respectables" withdrew from the chairs on either side, withdrew gradually and without open rudeness, she held centre of a little court of her own.

The Gray Dawn Stewart Edward White 1909

These two unconventional Bohemian lovers, strolling together at night, at their own sweet will, see down the court along which they are strolling, three lampions flare, which indicate some big place or other where the "respectables" do congregate; and the woman says to her companion, with a humorous sarcasm, "Put forward your best foot!" that is, we must be very correct passing along here in this brilliant light.

An Introduction to the Study of Robert Browning's Poetry Hiram Corson 1869

The problem with conservative respectables, like the NR gang, is that they know that Ron Paul means it.

The Volokh Conspiracy » GOP Field Lacks Reagan’s Energy: 2007

The characters are seedy semi-respectables with no perspectives and little shrewdness, the locale is drab, and the prose an odd combination of Victor Appleton and Horatio Alger:

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Adams, Robert M. 1964

Young Blenkinsop had not been one of the respectables.

Best Detective Stories Hare, Cyril, 1900-1958 1959

Insolent and arrogant, they display themselves and jeer at the respectables who sometimes pass.

The Stars My Destination Bester, Alfred 1956