intelligentsia

[ in-tel-i-jent-see-uh, -gent- ]

/ ɪnˌtɛl ɪˈdʒɛnt si ə, -ˈgɛnt- /

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plural noun

intellectuals considered as a group or class, especially as a cultural, social, or political elite.

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Origin of intelligentsia

1905–10; <Russian intelligéntsia<Latin intelligentiaintelligence

Words nearby intelligentsia

intelligent, intelligent card, intelligent design, intelligential, intelligent knowledge-based system, intelligentsia, intelligent terminal, intelligibility, intelligible, Intelsat, intemerate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use intelligentsia in a sentence

She certainly knows how to court the intelligentsia; they rhapsodize when anyone says, “On the one hand, but on the other hand.”
Here's How to Dig Out of This 'Stupid Sh*t' U.S. Foreign Policy|Leslie H. Gelb|August 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the morning, join the intelligentsia at Cafe Pamplona, a European-style coffeehouse, also by Harvard Square.
The U.S. Road Trips You Should Really Take|Lonely Planet|April 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
On the whole the English intelligentsia have opposed Hitler, but only at the price of accepting Stalin.
George Orwell’s Letter on Why He Wrote ‘1984’|George Orwell|August 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The liberal intelligentsia continued its search for a better national anthem.
Star-Spangled Confederates: How Southern Sympathizers Decided Our National Anthem|Jefferson Morley|July 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST

The urban gentry and intelligentsia, though, disdained this voluntary migration.
The Triumph of Suburbia: Despite Downtown Hype, Americans Choose Sprawl|Joel Kotkin|April 29, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Since 1912 that misguided intelligentsia has been given a large store of fresh ammunition.
The Birth of Yugoslavia, Volume 1|Henry Baerlein
They will go on firing and firing, while the people, including the real intelligentsia, will be better engaged.
The Birth of Yugoslavia, Volume 1|Henry Baerlein
As a matter of fact it was the Trentino intelligentsia which looked forward to annexation, and not, as a class, the peasants.
The Birth of Yugoslavia, Volume 1|Henry Baerlein
The intelligentsia in China has a very peculiar position, unlike that which it has in any other country.
The Problem of China|Bertrand Russell
It is science that makes the difference between our intellectual outlook and that of the Chinese intelligentsia.
The Problem of China|Bertrand Russell

British Dictionary definitions for intelligentsia

intelligentsia

/ (ɪnˌtɛlɪˈdʒɛntsɪə) /

noun

the intelligentsia the educated or intellectual people in a society or community

Word Origin for intelligentsia

C20: from Russian intelligentsiya, from Latin intellegentia intelligence

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for intelligentsia

intelligentsia

[ (in-tel-uh-jent-see-uh) ]

Intellectuals who form an artistic, social, or political vanguard or elite.

intelligentsia

Origin of intelligentsia

Words nearby intelligentsia

Words related to intelligentsia

How to use intelligentsia in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for intelligentsia

Word Origin for intelligentsia

Cultural definitions for intelligentsia