Meaning & use
jet setter
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Meaning
nouncountableinformal
A wealthy person who travels widely and often by plane, moving between fashionable places and events as part of an exciting social life.
Grammar: Has a plural: two jet setters. The adjective form jet-set is used before nouns: a jet-set lifestyle.
Patterns
- a jet setter who does something
- live like a jet setter
My aunt became a jet setter after she sold her company, spending winters in Switzerland and summers on the Greek islands.
Magazines in the 1960s were full of photos of glamorous jet setters stepping off private planes.
He is no jet setter; his idea of a big trip is a weekend at his sister's house.
Word forms
| plural | jet setters |
|---|
Common combinations
- glamorous jet setter
- She portrayed herself online as a glamorous jet setter, though she mostly worked from her kitchen table.
- international jet setter
- The singer was an international jet setter who owned homes on three continents.
- jet-set lifestyle
- The jet-set lifestyle looks exciting, but constant flying is exhausting.
- become a jet setter
- After the film's success, he became a jet setter overnight.
- wealthy jet setter
- The resort has always attracted wealthy jet setters during the festival season.
Synonyms and how they differ
- globetrotter
- A globetrotter is simply someone who travels to many countries and need not be rich or fashionable, whereas a jet setter implies money and glamour.
- socialite
- A socialite is known for attending high-society events but does not necessarily travel much, while a jet setter is defined by frequent flights.
- traveler
- Traveler is a neutral, general word with no suggestion of wealth or a glamorous social life.
Opposites
Word family
- jet set noun
- the group of rich people who travel the world for pleasure
- jet-set adjective
- relating to the lifestyle of the jet set
- jet-setting adjective
- traveling often and luxuriously
- jet lag noun
- tiredness after a long flight across time zones
Commonly confused: jet setter or jet lag?
jet setter vs jet lag
Jet lag is the tired, out-of-rhythm feeling after flying across time zones; a jet setter is a person, not a condition.
Practice
Which person is best described as a jet setter?
Choose one answer.
A jet setter is a rich person who travels widely for pleasure and social life. The pilot flies often but for work, so the word does not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “jet setter”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.