intelligentsia
noun
in·tel·li·gent·sia
| \ in-ˌte-lə-ˈjen(t)-sē-ə
, -ˈgen(t)-
\
, -ˈgen(t)-
\
Definition of intelligentsia
: intellectuals who form an artistic, social, or political vanguard or elite
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Examples of intelligentsia in a Sentence
a presidential candidate who was the darling of the intelligentsia—and very few others
Recent Examples on the Web
But what about Eileen’s younger customers, a small but devoted cadre of Gen-X and millennial women who, yes, aspire to the intelligentsia but for whom economic precarity has made that work increasingly inaccessible? — Bridget Read, Vogue, "In the Future, We’ll All Be Wearing Eileen Fisher," 29 May 2019 That's it, and that's daunting to golf intelligentsia. — Chuck Culpepper, courant.com, "Tiger Woods is still getting over the Masters, 93 days later," 16 July 2019 There is no such thing as a perfect revolutionary; those who criticize her are quick to note that Goldman was willing to engage with liberals, progressives, and trade unionists as well as the intelligentsia in ways that many of her comrades scorned. — Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue, "Emma Goldman, One of History’s Best-Known Anarchists, Was Born 150 Years Ago," 27 June 2019 San Francisco’s cultural intelligentsia fired back. — Gary Kamiya, SFChronicle.com, "When a red-hunting Congress took on SF murals — and lost," 14 June 2019 The intelligentsia by and large recognized the emergence of an important Yiddish literary voice. — Charles Mcnulty, latimes.com, "Review: ‘Indecent’ at the Ahmanson pays haunting tribute to a daring Yiddish play," 11 June 2019 For a long time now this Moscow Patriarchate church has been discussed by patriotic intelligentsia as a kind of fifth column. — Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, "Tangle of church and state roils Ukraine’s Orthodox parishes," 17 Apr. 2019 The Trump presidency has exerted a gravitational pull on the conservative intelligentsia. — Jonathan Chait, Daily Intelligencer, "The Gangster Morality of Anti-Anti-Trumpism," 30 May 2018 Typically, these questions are left to technologists and to the intelligentsia of related scientific fields. — Henry A. Kissinger, The Atlantic, "How the Enlightenment Ends," 15 May 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'intelligentsia.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for intelligentsia
intelligentsia
noun
English Language Learners Definition of intelligentsia
: a group of intelligent and well-educated people who guide or try to guide the political, artistic, or social development of their society
See the full definition for intelligentsia in the English Language Learners Dictionary
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