illuminati
Americanplural noun
singular
illuminato-
persons possessing, or claiming to possess, superior enlightenment.
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(initial capital letter) a name given to different religious societies or sects because of their claim to superior enlightenment.
plural noun
-
any of several groups of illuminati, esp in 18th-century France
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a group of religious enthusiasts of 16th-century Spain who were persecuted by the Inquisition
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a masonic sect founded in Bavaria in 1778 claiming that the illuminating grace of Christ resided in it alone
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a rare name for the Rosicrucians
plural noun
Etymology
Origin of illuminati
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin illūminātī, plural of illūminātus “enlightened”; illuminate
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.
From the road, it can be identified only from its logo: an illuminati eye nestled into a pyramid, which sheds a tear into a river that vanishes into the horizon.
From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2024
In scathing, often florid language, the report compared the board to a "pyramid scheme," a "self-styled illuminati" and a fish that "rots from the head down."
From Salon • Sep. 2, 2022
One was an illuminati sign, a pyramid with an eye.
From Slate • Aug. 3, 2018
I am but a conduit by which the fantasy golf illuminati yield up their secrets to the forces of evolution.
From Golf Digest • Feb. 15, 2018
"That one," she responded, indicating the one in which the Pennimans themselves lived, "is occupied by one of the illuminati of the city."
From As I Remember Recollections of American Society during the Nineteenth Century by Gouverneur, Marian
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.