as in aristocratic
being or characteristic of a person who has an offensive air of superiority and tends to ignore or disdain anyone regarded as inferior
the complacent, elitist attitude of the members at that suburban country club
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in snob
Related Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of elitist
W. David Marx, The Atlantic, 25 Nov. 2025
There’s no elitist choosing that happens, like with the vampire.
—Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 10 Nov. 2025
Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 20 July 2025
That isn’t a problem, though, because true Mario Kart elitists understand that the first game in the series, Super Mario Kart, remains Nintendo’s pinnacle.
—Luke Winkie, Vulture, 18 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for elitist
Adjective
An emerging set of critics worried that complex, experimental culture was inherently elitist, deployed by the educated to make everyone else feel inferior.
—W. David Marx, The Atlantic, 25 Nov. 2025
There’s no elitist choosing that happens, like with the vampire.
—Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 10 Nov. 2025
Noun
He’s known for brash takes on politics and appears to relish taking down moralists and elitists.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 20 July 2025
That isn’t a problem, though, because true Mario Kart elitists understand that the first game in the series, Super Mario Kart, remains Nintendo’s pinnacle.
—Luke Winkie, Vulture, 18 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for elitist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elitist
Adjective
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That quotation alludes to the many Proustian echoes in Bowen’s story set in an aristocratic Big House during the 1919-21 War of Independence.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 Feb. 2026
-
It was restored over the course of a decade and feels elegant and aristocratic without tipping into museum territory, with several reception rooms, a billiard room, a modern kitchen, and seven en-suite bedrooms.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Terroir doesn’t just belong to wine snobs, because apparently Ethiopia owns it.—
John Noakes,
Hartford Courant,
31 Jan. 2026
-
O’Hara relished playing deluded snobs like this wealthy Manhattanite with artistic ambitions from director Tim Burton’s horror comedy about two dead owners of a country house who want to drive out its new buyers.—
Julie Hinds,
Freep.com,
30 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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He is paired with an arrogant young partner (Lou), a second-generation political scion whose personality clashes sharply with his own.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
29 Jan. 2026
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In the early years of his fame as a writer, Rushdie had something of a reputation for being prickly and arrogant, but Gibney’s portrait reveals a man mellowed by time and experience.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Set in 1969 Palm Beach, the Apple TV series follows Kristen Wiig’s Maxine Dellacorte-Simmons, a spry social climber eager to infiltrate high society.—
Savannah Walsh,
Vanity Fair,
7 Jan. 2026
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In classic Brooksian fashion, this simple succession plan becomes complicated by a potential scandal involving her social climber husband (Jack Lowden), the sudden return of her womanizing father (Woody Harrelson), and, well, Ella McCay’s own stubbornly idealistic personality.—
Vikram Murthi,
IndieWire,
10 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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These page-turning stories will put characters like Pride and Prejudice’s snobbish Caroline Bingley to the modern descendant of Sense and Sensibility’s Eliza Williams at center stage in elevated fan fiction for Janeites.—
Lizz Schumer,
PEOPLE,
16 Dec. 2025
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In fact, Claire’s neighbor Jeanne Wang-Wasserman, played with subtle snobbish disdain by veteran actress Joan Chen, fuels her ire almost as much as her family’s benign neglect.—
Rodney Ho,
Boston Herald,
14 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Elitist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elitist. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.
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