anti-elitist

adjective

an·​ti-elit·​ist ˌan-tē-ā-ˈlē-tist 

-i-,

-ē-,

ˌan-tī-

: opposed to elitist attitudes, policies, or practices

Like many swashbuckler capitalists, he is essentially anti-elitist.

—David Brooks

anti-elitism

ˌan-tē-ā-ˈlē-ˌti-zəm 

-i-

-ē-

ˌan-tī-

noun

Shostakovich, a prime figure in the flowering of the avant-garde in early Soviet Russia, then became a public target of Stalin's virulent anti-elitism.

—Scott Cantrell

anti-elitist noun

Britain is the only country I know dominated by an elite of anti-elitists.

—George Walden

Examples of anti-elitist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

What might seem like an anti-elitist stance actually reinforces elitism. —Aidé Acosta, The Mercury News, 27 Dec. 2024

Through TikTok and other social media platforms, Mr. Georgescu consolidated votes that had previously been divided among different anti-elitist political camps, Mr. Ionas said. —Andrew Higgins, New York Times, 25 Nov. 2024

If 2024 was an anti-elitist election, then voters were seriously misled by a conman who convinced them that a Wharton graduate and billionaire, who has more homes than the average person has shoes, represented average Americans more than a minority woman who graduated from Howard University. —Tom Zirpoli, Baltimore Sun, 20 Nov. 2024

Republican candidates increasingly picked up on the anti-elitist education theme as the party began appealing more to economically downscale voters — an important element in Trump’s 2016 winning coalition. —David Mark, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 17 Aug. 2024

Populism and Extremism Out of disorder and discontent come leaders who have strong personalities, are anti-elitist, and claim to fight for the common man. —Ray Dalio, TIME, 25 June 2024

These populist dictatorships, in countries such as Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela, share two important features: first, their rulers came to power by winning free and fair elections with an anti-elitist and anti-pluralist message. —Yascha Mounk, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2019

His supporters see him as an anti-elitist hero who could reform establishment politics, eradicate corruption and solve growing economic inequality. —Hyung-Jin Kim and Jiwon Song, USA TODAY, 2 Jan. 2024

The rivalry between Peretti—goofy, numerate, American, straight—and Gawker founder Nick Denton—brash, anti-elitist, English, gay—lies at the heart of Traffic. —Aaron Timms, The New Republic, 18 Apr. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1954, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for anti-elitist

• completest
• defeatist
• elitist
• neatest
• sweetest