demiworld means synonym of demimonde (“class or group”). Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.
Why “demiworld” is a great word
DEMIWORLD — [Noun] A class or group considered to be on the fringes of respectable society. From French demi-monde, literally 'half-world', from demi- ('half') + monde ('world'); a calque into English as 'demiworld'. First attested 1860–65. Unlike the "demimonde," which evokes the specific, glittering shadow-life of courtesans and their patrons, or the "underworld," which denotes the realm of overt criminal enterprise, "demiworld" describes a broader, grayer periphery. It is the discreetly faded velvet of a private club where fortunes are whispered, the genteel boarding house that smells of boiled cabbage and quiet scandal, and the second-tier gallery where ambition curdles into pretension—a borderland where respectability is the currency one has willingly forgone.
Etymology
Calque of French demi-monde.
noun
- Synonym of demimonde (“class or group”).