persons possessing, or claiming to possess, superior enlightenment.
(initial capital letter) a name given to different religious societies or sects because of their claim to superior enlightenment.
any of several groups of illuminati, esp in 18th-century France
a group of religious enthusiasts of 16th-century Spain who were persecuted by the Inquisition
a masonic sect founded in Bavaria in 1778 claiming that the illuminating grace of Christ resided in it alone
a rare name for the Rosicrucians
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin illūminātī, plural of illūminātus “enlightened”; see illuminate
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The day we spoke he wore a baseball cap embroidered with the illuminati eye from the Chambers Project logo.
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
The illuminati of New York in the ’20s — among them Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley and Harpo Marx — made it their resort.
From New York Times • Nov. 28, 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
In Islâm mysticism and allegory are allied in the usual way; for the illuminati the words had quite a different meaning than for common, every-day people.
From Mohammedanism Lectures on Its Origin, Its Religious and Political Growth, and Its Present State by Hurgronje, C. Snouck
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.
