intelligentsia
noun
in·tel·li·gent·sia in-ˌte-lə-ˈjen(t)-sē-ə 
-ˈgen(t)-
-ˈgen(t)- : intellectuals who form an artistic, social, or political vanguard or elite
Synonyms
- clerisy
- literati
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
a presidential candidate who was the darling of the intelligentsia—and very few others
Recent Examples on the Web Founded the previous year by Harold Ross, its first editor, and his wife, Jane Grant, the magazine was beginning to arouse the curiosity of Manhattan’s intelligentsia, but still struggled to break through. 
Joe Pompeo, The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2022 The conservative movement now has a legal intelligentsia of academics, writers, and national advocacy groups who fundamentally shaped how Roe was overturned. Emma Green, The New Yorker, 24 July 2022 At the same time, Ukrainian intelligentsia called for shaking off Russian imperial embrace in culture. Daria Mattingly, CNN, 29 June 2022 The book, centering on a Mexican literary critic who suspects that his translator wife is having an affair with an American novelist, offers a window on the social and intellectual world of a privileged Mexico City intelligentsia. New York Times, 31 May 2022 Her first book was her PhD thesis, which focused on Hindi writer Munshi Premchand and his role in the formation of the nationalist intelligentsia of the 20th century. Manavi Kapur, Quartz, 27 May 2022 Today America’s intelligentsia is in the grip of a hallucinogenic fever dream. Alex Kuczynski, Town & Country, 20 Jan. 2022 Now, Trump-friendly intelligentsia and power-brokers are far more allured by the use of government interventions to achieve conservative ends. Ethan Lamb, National Review, 23 Mar. 2022 Novaya cemented itself as the go-to publication of Russia’s liberal intelligentsia during the heyday of independent journalism in the 1990s. Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2022 See More
Joe Pompeo, The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2022 The conservative movement now has a legal intelligentsia of academics, writers, and national advocacy groups who fundamentally shaped how Roe was overturned. Emma Green, The New Yorker, 24 July 2022 At the same time, Ukrainian intelligentsia called for shaking off Russian imperial embrace in culture. Daria Mattingly, CNN, 29 June 2022 The book, centering on a Mexican literary critic who suspects that his translator wife is having an affair with an American novelist, offers a window on the social and intellectual world of a privileged Mexico City intelligentsia. New York Times, 31 May 2022 Her first book was her PhD thesis, which focused on Hindi writer Munshi Premchand and his role in the formation of the nationalist intelligentsia of the 20th century. Manavi Kapur, Quartz, 27 May 2022 Today America’s intelligentsia is in the grip of a hallucinogenic fever dream. Alex Kuczynski, Town & Country, 20 Jan. 2022 Now, Trump-friendly intelligentsia and power-brokers are far more allured by the use of government interventions to achieve conservative ends. Ethan Lamb, National Review, 23 Mar. 2022 Novaya cemented itself as the go-to publication of Russia’s liberal intelligentsia during the heyday of independent journalism in the 1990s. Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Russian intelligentsiya, from Latin intelligentia intelligence
First Known Use
1905, in the meaning defined above
intelligentsia
noun
as in literati
intellectuals considered as a social class a presidential candidate who was the darling of the intelligentsia—and very few others Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- literati
- elite
- clerisy
- elect
- best
- culturati
- prime
- avant-garde
- chosen
- illuminati
- cream
- fat
- upper crust
- flower
- choice
- pick
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- booboisie