elite
Americannoun
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(used with a plural verb) the choicest or best of anything considered collectively, especially of a group or class of people.
The elite of the contemporary art scene were all represented at the gallery.
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(used with a plural verb)
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people of the highest financial or social level of society.
Only the elite received invites to the event.
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a group of people exercising the major share of authority or influence within a larger group.
The scandal involved most members of the political party's power elite.
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a member of a group of people who have a great deal of power, influence, or social capital.
The elites don't care about ordinary people's problems.
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a type, widely used in typewriters, that is approximately 10-point in size and has 12 characters to the inch.
adjective
noun
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(sometimes functioning as plural) the most powerful, rich, gifted, or educated members of a group, community, etc
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Also called: twelve pitch. a typewriter typesize having 12 characters to the inch
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of elite
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English elit “a person elected to office,” from Middle French e(s)lit, past participle of e(s)lire “to choose”; see elect
Explanation
The elite are the group thought to be the best and having the highest status. In the middle ages, only elite men were taught to read and write. There are elite schools, elite teams, and elite players, some really the best and some just calling themselves the best. Who can join the basketball elite besides LeBron James and Michael Jordan? That's a matter of opinion. Elite is used with a singular or plural verb, depending on whether these special people are considered together as a group or as individual members of a group.
Vocabulary lists containing elite
The Outsiders
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Outliers
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Achievement First 6th Grade IA 1 Words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Pero evitar el dolor no siempre es posible, ya que los clavadistas de élite realizan una vertiginosa serie de picas, pliegues y saltos mortales.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 29, 2021
Se centra en una academia de deportes de élite en un reino mágico.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2021
Seis miembros de un grupo élite de seguridad americana defienden el consulado de Estados Unidos en Bangazi, Libia, objeto de un ataque terrorista que causó la muerte del embajador en 2012.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 24, 2020
Esmail Gha’ani, Suleimani’s successor as head of the Quds Force, the élite wing of the Revolutionary Guards, vowed to confront the United States.
From The New Yorker • Jan. 6, 2020
The nursery still bore traces of the little party that had broken up so disastrously, for Mitty had invited the élite of the village ladies to view the carnival from the nursery windows.
From Diana Tempest, Volume III (of 3) by Cholmondeley, Mary
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
