chatterati

plural noun

chat·​te·​ra·​ti ˌcha-tə-ˈrä-tē How to pronounce chatterati (audio)
disparaging
: people who talk and write a lot about current events and political and social matters : the people who make up the chattering classes
The startling news from Cambridge: 10 percent of incoming Harvard freshmen cheated on exams while in high school. That factoid … shook up the chatterati, prompting much handwringing about the crumbling morals of today's youth and the impending fall of civilization.Tom Keane, Boston Globe, 17 Sept. 2013
Faldo, asked about McIlroy's form slump, had said that the younger man should concentrate more on golf. McIlroy had said that Faldo should mind his own business. It is the kind of thing that golf's chatterati just love …Alasdair Reid, The Herald (Glasgow), 19 July 2013
A weekend demonstration against the paper attracted just 110 people. It seems that in the real world people … were far more supportive of us than the chatterati would have you believe.Paul Dacre, Daily Mail (London), 12 Oct. 2013

Word History

Etymology

chatter entry 1 + -ati (as in literati)

First Known Use

1990, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of chatterati was in 1990

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Dictionary Entries Near chatterati

Cite this Entry

“Chatterati.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chatterati. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.

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