yuppie, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

yuppie n.

also yup, yuppy

[abbr.; the term created a variety of often one-off derivations, e.g. pumpie, previously upwardly-mobile prat, i.e. a failed or former yuppie]

1. (orig. US) a young, upwardly-mobile professional.

1980		Chicago Mag. 154: [heading] Yuppies flood the lakefront, but it takes families to save a city. [Ibid.] 155/1: ‘Yuppies’ – young urban professionals rebelling against the stodgy suburban lifestyles of their parents.
1981		Chicago Trib. 13 May 1: It’s almost a cliche to say that Chicago is a collection of neighborhoods. Some are rich and healthy--Beverly with its mostly white population, Pill Hill with its mostly black professionals, Lincoln Park with its Yuppies (Young Urban Professionals).
1987		Eve. Standard 2 Mar. 24: First identified in America, Yuppy stands for Young Upwardly Mobile Professional.
1991		P. Carey Tax Inspector (1992) 46: You could see him thinking fucking yuppy. He did not have a clue who Benny was.
1998		(con. 1986) G. Pelecanos Sweet Forever 111: Don’t ask my why, but the yups are buying them.
1999		Observer 13 June 10: The satire is so brilliantly subtle when the heroes are whining yuppies.
2000		Guardian G2 17 Feb. 5: It was how yuppies really were. In yuppieland, red braces really were stylish, ‘ciao’ really did mean hello, Thatcher was a goddess, and a speeding Porsche was [...] the last word in erotic stimulation.
2005		L. Redhead Rubdown [ebook] Art students walked past [...] and junkies and yuppies.
2011		R.F. Coleman ‘Requiem for Spider’ in Pulp Ink [ebook] McGee’s Tavern [...] in Park Slope had once been an old school Irish pub, but was now a bastion of Yuppie-ness.
2020		D. Whish-Wilson Shore Leave 47: ‘Knockin down the house and whatnot. Makin it fit for habitation by yuppies’.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

1988		A. Payne ‘The Last Video Show’ in Minder [TV script] 35: This for that yuppie twerp Nigel?
1989		C. Hiaasen Skin Tight 285: Don’t tell me you got one of those yuppie Mattel car phones.
1995		J. Stahl Permanent Midnight 137: Prime-time Yup Opera.
1998		C. Fleming High Concept 112: McInerney [...] chronicled yuppie cocaine use in the 1980s.
2004		C. Hiaasen Skinny Dip 262: That lowlife yuppie turdhopper.
2010		Observer New Review 3 Oct. 4/3: Surely no one could want more of their drippy yuppie nonsense?
2012		M.E. Fitch ‘Monster’ in ThugLit Oct. [ebook] I probably looked like some yuppie faggot to them.

3. (N.Z. prison) a cellphone.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 205/2: yuppie n. a cellphone.

In derivatives

yuppification (n.)

var. on SE gentrification.

1987		Eve. Standard 5 Mar. 8: Colin is scathing about the yuppification of the East End.
1995		D. Lodge Therapy (1996) 266: A certain amount of yuppification had taken place.

yuppified (adj.) (also yupped up)

rendered suitable for the tastes of young upwardly mobile professionals.

1987		Eve. Standard 19 Mar. 39: The police advise anyone who moves into converted or renovated property in newly yuppified areas to change their locks immediately.
2004		A. Kleinzahler Cutty one Rock (2005) 183: The place is all yupped up now.

yuppify (v.)

var. on SE gentrify.

2000

Observer 12 Mar. 18: Men from property developers [...] want to yuppify and gentrify Soho.

In compounds

yuppie flu (n.) (also yuppie disease) [the condition appeared to become more prevalent during the 1980s and resembled the most deleterious form of ’flu. It was often dismissed by doctors as no more than hypochondria, although its sufferers were able to demonstrate a variety of definite symptoms]

ME, myalgic encephalomyelitis.

1987		Atlanta Constitution 30 Dec. A-6/1: Two independent researchers suggested Tuesday that rubella vaccines introduced in 1979 may have triggered an epidemic of Epstein-Barr syndrome, an exhausting illness that primarily strikes young adults [...] The syndrome, known as the ‘yuppie disease,’ causes chronic fatigue.
1993		HighBeam Research 1 Jan. 🌐 It was called ‘yuppie flu’ when it became prevalent among hard-driving young people who progressively found themselves so worn out that they couldn’t keep up their normal pace. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), as it is currently known, has baffled the medical profession for the past decade.
2004		FreeDictionary.com 🌐 Yuppie Flu: This was a nickname for CFS, especially in the 1980s. It reflects the belief that CFS [i.e. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome] mainly affects the affluent (‘yuppies’), and implies that it is a form of malingering. CFS, however, affects people of all races, genders, and social standings. This nickname is seen as extremely insulting by people with CFS.

yuppie puppy (n.)

a child of a yuppie, for whom children were seen as something of a fashion accessory in the early 1990s.

2000

PseudoDictionary.com 🌐 yuppie puppy – Children of Young Urban Professionals. e.g., The couple next door has one Yuppie puppy.