noun
intelligentsia
in-tel-ih-JENT-see-uh/ɪnˌtelɪˈdʒentsiə/
The educated intellectual class of a society.
The city's intelligentsia gathers at public lectures to debate ideas.
Etymology
The connection is a shift from understanding as a mental faculty to the people associated with intellectual life. The word names that educated group collectively as a social class.
In context
in 1837 carlisle made his definitive step into the london intelligentsia when he began to write his three-volume work the french revolution a history
More examples
- Her essays gain a wide following among the intelligentsia.
- The government faces growing criticism from the intelligentsia.
- The novel explores tensions between the intelligentsia and factory workers.
Forms
intelligentsia · intelligentsias
Similar words
- intellectuals
- Identifies individual thinkers without necessarily treating them as a class.
- literati
- Refers specifically to people knowledgeable about literature.