🗓️ Idiom: Cream of the Crop
💬 Meaning
- The best of a particular group; the most talented, skilled, or high-quality individuals or things.
- Often used to refer to top candidates, employees, or products.
🧠 Example Sentences
- We only want to interview the cream of the crop for this executive role.
- This year’s interns are the cream of the crop—smart, motivated, and eager to learn.
- The university is known for producing the cream of the crop in engineering.
🏛️ Origin
This phrase originates from the practice of skimming cream from milk. The cream, which rises to the top, is considered the richest and best part. Thefrfore, “cream of the crop” means the best part of a larger group.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
Out of hundreds of applicants, only the __________ were invited for a final interview.
Answer
cream of the crop
2. Choose the correct meaning of “cream of the crop”:
A) The newest employees
B) The most promising or best individuals
C) People who like dairy products
Answer
B) The most promising or best individuals
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“Only the most talented candidates will be selected.” → Change the sentence using: cream of the crop
Answer
Only the cream of the crop will be selected.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
👉 HR and Recruitment Idioms
👉 Business English Idioms List
👉 Student Space
👉 Tutor Toolkit