Definition of élite

1. Noun. A group or class of persons enjoying superior intellectual or social or economic status.

Exact synonyms: Elite Group
Generic synonyms: Upper Class, Upper Crust
Specialized synonyms: Chosen, Elect, Cream, Pick, Clerisy, Intelligentsia, Beau Monde, Bon Ton, High Society, Smart Set, Society, Few, Aristocracy, Nobility
Member holonyms: Technocrat

2. Adjective. Selected as the best. "Elite colleges"
Exact synonyms: Elect
Similar to: Selected
Derivative terms: Elect

Definition of élite

1. Adjective. Of high birth or social position; aristocratic or patrician. ¹

2. Adjective. Representing the choicest or most select of a group ¹

3. Noun. A special group or social class of people which have a superior intellectual, social or economic status as, the elite of society. ¹

4. Noun. Someone who is among the best at certain task. ¹

5. Adjective. (alternative spelling of elite) ¹

6. Noun. (alternative spelling of elite) ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of élite

1. a socially superior group [n -S]

Lexicographical Neighbors of élite

eliminatory systems
eliminatrix
elinguated
elinguation
elinguid
elinin
elints
eliquament
eliquation
eliquations
elision
elisions
elison
elisor
elisors
elite
elite group
eliteness
elites
elitism
elitisms
elitist
elitists
elix
elixate
elixated
elixates
elixating
elixation
elixations

Literary usage of élite

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Maecenas and the Madrigalist: Patrons, Patronage, and the Origins of the by Anthony M. Cummings (2004)
"The first concerns the reconstructed memberships of the various informal institutions and what they reveal about the Florentine cultural elite of the early ..."

2. Globalisation, Poverty and Inequality by Richard Kohl (2003)
"elite and consider first a situation of autarky. What are the incentives for that group to subsidise or publicly provide education? ..."

3. Sugar Beet Seed, History and Development by Truman Garrett Palmer (1918)
"A 1916 shipment to the United States of 50 bags of elite seed (no Ib. per bag) was ... Elite seed is never used for producing a crop of commercial seed, ..."

4. Theories of Social Progress: A Critical Study of the Attempts to Formulate by Arthur James Todd (1918)
"... HEROES, THE ELITE (Continued) THE problem of the elite in the service of progress reduces finally to a question of what form of social organization is ..."

5. The Fine Arts: A Manual by Gerard Baldwin Brown (1902)
"A visit from the Elite of the city. Further conversation is interrupted by the entry of the expected visitors, a gaily dressed company, escorted by the ..."

Other Resources:

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