Literati

//ˌlɪtəˈɹɑti// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Well-educated, literary people; intellectuals who are interested in literature. plural, plural-normally

    "First, to Counsellor Fitzclabber, who, he told me, was then employed in compiling a history of the kings of Minster, from Irish manuscripts; and then to his friend Mr. Gahagan, who was a profound philosopher and politician, and had projected many excellent schemes for the good of his country. But it seems these literati had been very ill rewarded for their ingenious labours; for, between them both, there was but one shirt, and half a pair of breeches."

  2. 2
    the literary intelligentsia wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
intellectual

Example

More examples

"First, to Counsellor Fitzclabber, who, he told me, was then employed in compiling a history of the kings of Minster, from Irish manuscripts; and then to his friend Mr. Gahagan, who was a profound philosopher and politician, and had projected many excellent schemes for the good of his country. But it seems these literati had been very ill rewarded for their ingenious labours; for, between them both, there was but one shirt, and half a pair of breeches."

Etymology

From Latin līterātī, plural of līterātus (“lettered, literate”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.