intelligentsia
noun
in·tel·li·gent·sia
in-ˌte-lə-ˈjen(t)-sē-ə 
-ˈgen(t)-
-ˈgen(t)-
: intellectuals who form an artistic, social, or political vanguard or elite
Examples of intelligentsia in a Sentence
a presidential candidate who was the darling of the intelligentsia—and very few others
Recent Examples on the Web
Her classmates there included Vladimir Nabokov’s sister Olga, along with other teachers and students who would go on to shape the early Soviet arts scene before fleeing to exile (the lucky ones), getting sent to the gulag or being shot during various purges of the Russian intelligentsia.
—
Marco Roth, Washington Post, 30 July 2024
An Emmy winner for acting, directing, and writing, the series ought to be on the lips of the entire clickbait intelligentsia, filling digital column inches from the Ringer to Slate.
—Graham Hillard, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 12 July 2024
During the 1960s, information spread with impressive speed: something akin to social networks formed among the intelligentsia, a process that had already begun under Nikita Khrushchev but reached its full extent in the early Brezhnev years.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 17 May 2024
The musical intelligentsia had turned out en masse.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for intelligentsia 
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.
Marco Roth, Washington Post, 30 July 2024
An Emmy winner for acting, directing, and writing, the series ought to be on the lips of the entire clickbait intelligentsia, filling digital column inches from the Ringer to Slate.
—Graham Hillard, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 12 July 2024
During the 1960s, information spread with impressive speed: something akin to social networks formed among the intelligentsia, a process that had already begun under Nikita Khrushchev but reached its full extent in the early Brezhnev years.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 17 May 2024
The musical intelligentsia had turned out en masse.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for intelligentsia
Articles Related to intelligentsia
Dictionary Entries Near intelligentsia
Cite this Entry
“Intelligentsia.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intelligentsia. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share