status symbol

Definition of Status Symbol

(noun) A visible and material example of an individual’s status, typically used to display their wealth or power.

Examples of Status Symbol

• An expensive and limited edition car.
• Reserved parking spot.

Status Symbol Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: stat·us sym·bol

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ˈstætəs ˈsɪmbəl/
• British English – /ˈsteɪtəs ˈsɪmbəl/

Usage Notes

• Plural: status symbols
• Status symbols are related to conspicuous consumption.
• Veblen goods are status symbols, these products that are in demand primarily because of their high price and serve as markers of status. Examples of Veblen goods include designer handbags, jewelry, and luxury cars.

Related Quotation

• “Concern with identity means taking seriously the importance of fashion in gentrification: gentrifiers and suburbanites are members of different status groups, using housing as status symbols to define and claim membership of those groups. Displacees are just as concerned with the maintenance of their identity, but do not have access to the same amount of resources as gentrifiers. Because the solution to the gentrifiers‘ identity crisis takes place at the expense of the displacee, gentrification takes on a synecdochal quality: the concerns expressed in struggles over gentrification exemplify the general concern with identity in conditions of modernity, which should be understood as the subjective experience of everyday life within a capitalist mode of production. The context within which these struggles over status take place is nonetheless class-constituted and class laden. Gentrification and the struggles it engenders should be interpreted as a form of hegemonic practice. Ultimately, it is this that makes gentrification ‘gentrification‘” (Redfern 2003:2351).

Additional Information

• Word origin of “status” and “symbol” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com

Related Terms

• achieved status
• ascribed status
• master status
• status
• status consistency
• status declassing
• status lender
• status offense
• status quo
• wealth

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Reference

Redfern, P. A. 2003. “What Makes Gentrification ‘Gentrification’?” Urban Studies 40(12):2351–66. doi:10.1080/0042098032000136101.

Works Consulted

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Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

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Cite the Definition of Status Symbol

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “status symbol.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved October 15, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/status-symbol/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

status symbol. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/status-symbol/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “status symbol.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed October 15, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/status-symbol/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“status symbol.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/status-symbol/>.