the literati

noun

: educated people who know about and are interested in literature
a new novelist who has been embraced by the literati

Examples of the literati in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But Adams’s expectations were disappointed, no less than Madison’s hopes for the literati. Jeffrey Rosen, The Atlantic, 6 June 2026 There is no more intimate way to become a member of the literati than by catching your favorite writer’s whooping cough. Blythe Roberson, New Yorker, 4 June 2026 This article first appeared in Book Gossip, a newsletter about what the literati are really thinking. Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 3 June 2026 Incorporated into the city in 1860, this former hamlet was the haunt of Molière and the literati, and later a hotbed of Art Nouveau residences by architect Hector Guimard (the creator of Paris’s iconic Métro entrances). Mary Winston Nicklin, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 June 2026 Hujar name-drops big names in the literati throughout the film, like Fran Lebowitz, so the film also serves as a who’s who in the New York City creative scene of the time. Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 7 Nov. 2025 The book has been collecting laurels from both the literati and the trades. Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2025 In particular, ‘The Replica’ stresses the contrast between the lyrical allusion-pastoralism of the ‘real’ world and the artificial staging of literature as purview of the literati. Matthew Carey Salyer, Forbes.com, 17 July 2025 For the literati, by the literati Born in 1892 in Aspen, Colorado, Ross worked out west as a reporter while still a teenager. Christopher B. Daly, The Conversation, 11 Feb. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“The literati.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20literati. Accessed 10 Jun. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster