literati

[lit-uh-rah-tee]

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.

literati

/ ˌlɪtəˈrɑːtiː /

plural noun

1. literary or scholarly people

Word History and Origins

Origin of literati¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of literati¹

C17: from Latin

Example Sentences

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.

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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.

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What was supporting the grand mansions and the literati in England in the middle of the 19th century?

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In the world of literature, for example, authors who are “othered” outside of the elite literati typically are boxed into othering themselves just to parlay their creativity into a career.

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When East Coast literati ask themselves this question, they often answer: Joan Didion.

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Related Words

• department 
• institute 
• personnel 
• staff 
• university