literati

American  

[lit-uh-rah-tee] / ˌlɪt əˈrɑ ti /

plural noun

singular

literatus

1. people engaged in literary pursuits, especially professional writers.

   The lounge at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City was a well-known haunt of the literati during the 1920s.

2. learned people and scholars considered as a class.

   university literati in their ivory tower.

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literati British  

/ ˌlɪtəˈrɑːtiː /

plural noun

1. literary or scholarly people

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Etymology

Origin of literati

First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin līterāti, litterāti “learned, liberally educated people,” noun use of plural of līterātus, litterātus; literate

Example Sentences

These days, the online literati despises Shriver as a matter of principle.

From The Wall Street Journal

This makes for puckish satire of the literati and its highly cultured brand of condescension; at times the movie feels like a South American spin on a Noah Baumbach film.

From The Wall Street Journal

The book—a masterpiece of the genre—chronicles the circuitous path he took from Brownsville, then a scrappy Jewish neighborhood, to the tony milieu of New York’s literati.

From The Wall Street Journal

On recent travels, she taught in Paris at a New York University summer school program, mingled with New York City’s glittery literati and gave readings around the world.

From New York Times

The floating ships in the fantasy role-playing game Honkai: Star Rail are populated with traders, gourmets and literati who surf their texts on jade abacuses.

From New York Times

Related Words

• department
• institute
• personnel
• staff
• university