hypergamy

From hyper- +‎ -gamy.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /haɪˈpɚɡəmi/

• Audio (US):

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hypergamy (usually uncountable, plural hypergamies)

1. Act or practice of seeking a spouse of higher socioeconomic status or caste status than oneself.

   Synonym: (colloquial) marrying up

   Antonym: hypogamy

   • 2012 February 11, Stephanie Coontz, “The M.R.S. and the Ph.D.”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     From 1940 to the mid-1970s, the tendency for men to marry down educationally became more pronounced and the cultural ideal of hypergamy — that women must marry up — became more insistent.

   • 2025 July 29, Jesse McKinley, “David Geffen’s Divorce Gives New Meaning to Hypergamy”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     A lawsuit against David Geffen mentions a website where hypergamy — dating above your station — is celebrated. But the word carries darker intonations.