Anacronymal abbreviation of "Wealthy,
Anglo-Saxon Protestant", used to describe rich,
conservative (but often liberal) Anglo-Germanic descendants in the
United States. Has origins in the Newport Gilded Age of the early 20th century, but has expanded as a description of such persons throughout the U.S.
The most striking example of WASP habitat are the states of Connecticut and Massachusetts, where solidly affluent communities border small, devastated and ghetto-ridden cities.
Sometimes understood to be "White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant" but also considered redundant.
The WASP, Allison Banks, was raised in Kenilworth, IL, is attending
Sarah Lawrence College, and, at age 21, has a fully intact hymen.
Hester Bessleston is a WASP and enjoys flying his vintage Beechcraft from his estate in Westport, CT to his
identical one 60 miles away, in
East Hampton, NY.