Trivia Time

Which poet helped reintroduce the word elite into English through his epic poem Don Juan?

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elite

American  

[ih-leet, ay-leet] / ɪˈlit, eɪˈlit /

Or élite

noun

• elites
  plural

1. (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.

2. (used with a plural verb)

   1. people of the highest financial or social level of society.

      Only the elite received invites to the event.

   2. 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.

3. 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.

4. a type, widely used in typewriters, that is approximately 10-point in size and has 12 characters to the inch.

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adjective

1. representing the choicest or most select; best.

   The program is taught by an elite group of authors.

elite British  

/ ɪˈliːt, eɪ- /

noun

1. (sometimes functioning as plural) the most powerful, rich, gifted, or educated members of a group, community, etc

2. Also called: twelve pitch. a typewriter typesize having 12 characters to the inch

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or suitable for an elite; exclusive

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antielite
  noun
• nonelite
  noun
• superelite
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• elites
  plural

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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

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

elite elites

Prior to his spell in charge of Maritimo, the 38-year-old spent five years working under Jurgen Klopp as an elite development coach at Liverpool, before joining Red Bull Salzburg as Pep Lijnders' number two.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

Many of the nation’s most elite institutions have recently turned away from test-blind or test-optional admission policies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Several bodyguards surrounded Kapustin as he laid out his bargain: The RVC was offering membership in an elite fighting force, he told Stupnikov, but it was a one-way ticket.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

We have to make sure that when they go out on the field, they understand that there's some elite level players out there.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

What I did know was that not getting a spot on the national team had made me more determined to excel in elite gymnastics.

From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles

But these figures, members of the traditional evangelical elites, do not speak for the entire community of evangelical elites.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

It will help us explain why in the Ramesside period, officials such as Paser chose to reuse, modify or build tombs adjacent to the monuments of the preceding 18th-dynasty elites.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026

Kaspersen describes Rachel Entrekin's historic victory at Cocodona 250, one of the most demanding ultramarathons in the world, as an "inspiration" among the elites to "dare to try".

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

Dubbed a "one-woman WikiLeaks", Caruana Galizia had exposed corruption at the highest level in the country, shining a spotlight on murky links between Malta's business and political elites.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

Nothing in the opinion or in the subsequent legal strategy made clear that segregation had afforded elites a crucial means of exercising social control over poor and working-class whites as well as blacks.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

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