elitist

American  

[ih-lee-tist, ey-lee‑] / ɪˈli tɪst, eɪˈli‑ /

adjective

1. (of a person or class of persons) considered superior by others or by themselves, as in intellect, talent, power, wealth, or position in society.

   elitist country clubbers who have theirs and don't care about anybody else.

2. catering to or associated with an elitist class, its ideologies, or its institutions.

   Even at such a small, private college, Latin and Greek are under attack as too elitist.

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noun

elitists plural

1. a person having, thought to have, or professing superior intellect or talent, power, wealth, or membership in the upper echelons of society.

   He lost a congressional race in Texas by being smeared as an Eastern elitist.

2. a person who believes in the superiority of an elitist class.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antielitist
  noun
• nonelitist
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• elitists
  plural

Etymology

Origin of elitist

elite + -ist

Explanation

Elitist is another word for snob. If you wear only the finest silk suits, expect caviar at every meal, and refuse to speak to anyone who doesn't have a PhD, then you might be an elitist. A fairly recent addition to the English language, the noun elitist, came about from a mix of elite + ist in 1950. Carlyle, Freud, and Nietzsche were all considered to be the original elitists. Elite, from which elitist was formed, evolved much earlier, in 1823, from the French élite, meaning “selection, choice.” Synonyms for elitist include highbrow, pompous person, social climber, and stuffed shirt.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

elitist elitists

Tennis has faced a more complex reputation, with some considering it to have been an elitist sport.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026

Michael Lucia initially bristled at the name, convinced it was out of touch and elitist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026

They’re insincere and elitist and out of touch and smug in many respects, from the perspective of a young man.

From Slate ● Mar. 25, 2026

OpenAI’s Altman said Anthropic’s Super Bowl ads illustrate how it is elitist.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026

We’d need to think about how they’d used whatever opportunities life had afforded them rather than measuring them simply by how far they’d made it up an elitist academic ladder.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Look over here, you snobby basketball and soccer elitists!

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

The public has glommed on to the cosmic irony of Davis, a Black radical, being descended from a group of people whom elitists view as a top determinant of social legitimacy.

From Salon ● Feb. 26, 2023

Others labeled the data center’s opponents, including groups like CFFC, as anti-development elitists who intimidated the project’s supporters into silence.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 15, 2023

In a land of vinyl sickos, Spotify normies, and Winamp elitists, Wade Nixon, the man behind the incredibly popular YouTube channel “DankPods,” stands alone with a pair of MP3-playing Oakley sunglasses.

From The Verge ● Jun. 24, 2022

It would become a corporate-run dystopia, an overpriced theme park for wealthy elitists.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline