literati
plural noun
li·te·ra·ti ˌli-tə-ˈrä-(ˌ)tē 
1
: the educated class
also : intelligentsia
2
: persons interested in literature or the arts
Synonyms
- clerisy
- intelligentsia
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The bread baked on Pepperidge Farm soon captured the attention of the Manhattan food literati. 
Fox News, 24 June 2022 By the late Eighties, Sorokin began to enjoy a modest amount of acclaim among the Russian-speaking literati, both at home and abroad. Jennifer Wilson, Harper’s Magazine , 25 May 2022 One of those lunches was with me, at Michael’s restaurant, a fishbowl in those days for the literati. Amy Fine Collins, Town & Country, 28 Jan. 2022 This sort of private-lives-of-the-bohemian-literati enterprise can easily become too sensationalized and/or high-minded, with real-life characters alternately reciting and smoldering at each other. Dennis Harvey, Variety, 19 Jan. 2022 The literati peppered him with questions, and Marks responded with pride. Longreads, Longreads, 2 Nov. 2021 Vardis Fisher, the editor of the Idaho guide, was one such outsider who, despite holding a PhD from the University of Chicago, was not a member of the literati. Max Holleran, The New Republic, 15 June 2021 But the warmer-month rusticators also included literati who encouraged themes of exceptional architectural design, all respecting the island’s varied ecologies and topographic patrimony. BostonGlobe.com, 6 June 2021 Florence interviews and then lands what must surely be one of the most coveted gigs for any young person yearning to break into the inner circles of the literati: personal assistant to Maud Dixon. Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2021 See More
Fox News, 24 June 2022 By the late Eighties, Sorokin began to enjoy a modest amount of acclaim among the Russian-speaking literati, both at home and abroad. Jennifer Wilson, Harper’s Magazine , 25 May 2022 One of those lunches was with me, at Michael’s restaurant, a fishbowl in those days for the literati. Amy Fine Collins, Town & Country, 28 Jan. 2022 This sort of private-lives-of-the-bohemian-literati enterprise can easily become too sensationalized and/or high-minded, with real-life characters alternately reciting and smoldering at each other. Dennis Harvey, Variety, 19 Jan. 2022 The literati peppered him with questions, and Marks responded with pride. Longreads, Longreads, 2 Nov. 2021 Vardis Fisher, the editor of the Idaho guide, was one such outsider who, despite holding a PhD from the University of Chicago, was not a member of the literati. Max Holleran, The New Republic, 15 June 2021 But the warmer-month rusticators also included literati who encouraged themes of exceptional architectural design, all respecting the island’s varied ecologies and topographic patrimony. BostonGlobe.com, 6 June 2021 Florence interviews and then lands what must surely be one of the most coveted gigs for any young person yearning to break into the inner circles of the literati: personal assistant to Maud Dixon. Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
obsolete Italian litterati, from Latin, plural of litteratus
First Known Use
1620, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing literati
literati
plural noun
as in intelligentsia
intellectuals considered as a social class Boston's 19th-century literati often referred to their city as "the Athens of America" Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- intelligentsia
- elite
- clerisy
- elect
- culturati
- best
- prime
- avant-garde
- chosen
- illuminati
- cream
- fat
- flower
- upper crust
- pick
- choice
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- booboisie