elite
/ɪˈliːt/US/ɪˈlit/
elite adjective: of high birth or social position; aristocratic or patrician.
Adjective
elite (comparative eliter or more elite, superlative elitest or most elite)
- Of high birth or social position; aristocratic or patrician.
- Representing the choicest or most select of a group.
- Not since Coventry in 1992 has a Premier League side kicked off a campaign with an all-English XI but things have reached the point where, of the 61 signings who have cost the elite division's 20 clubs a transfer fee this summer, only 12 have involved Englishmen.2013 August 20, Louise Taylor, The Guardian
Noun
elite (plural elites)
- A special group or social class of people who have a superior social or economic status and attendant power, advantages, or privileges in society; a member of such a group.
- constituting an elite
- the hubris of the elites
- Synonyms:
- crème de la crème
- An individual member of such a group.
- Someone who is among the best at a certain task.
- The Nations League results have also seen England respond to an ongoing criticism that they fail to beat the top sides, with even Southgate insisting they could not be considered among the world's elite until they beat the best. The World Cup did nothing to answer those questions.2018 November 18, Phil McNulty, “England 2 - 1 Croatia”, in BBC Sport
- A typeface with 12 characters per inch.
elite meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada
elite in Tamil
- உயர்ந்தோர் குழு, மேல் தட்டு, மேட்டுக்குடி, உன்னதம்
elite in Bengali
- সেরা অংশ
elite in Malayalam
- പ്രമാണിവർഗ്ഗം, ഉത്തമവർഗ്ഗം, വരേണ്യവർഗ്ഗം, ഉത്തമന്മാരുടെ സംഘം
elite in Kannada
- ಸಮಾಜಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠರು, ವಿಶಿಷ್ಟರು, ಗಣ್ಯರು, ಪ್ರಮುಖರು, ಉತ್ತಮರು, ಸಂಭಾವಿತರು
More languagesFewer languages
- elite in Tagalog
- kapilian
- elite in Arabic
- نُخْبَة nuḵba
- elite in Malay
- elit
- elite in Indonesian
- elite
- elite in Thai
- ชั้นนำ chán-nam, อติชน à-dtì-chon, อภิชน à-pí-chon, ชนชั้นนำ chon-chán-nam
- elite in Vietnamese
- giới tinh hoa, giới thượng lưu
Examples of elite in a sentence
- Alexander the Great's army numbered an elite cavalry among its ranks.
- You got duked in to the elite.
- From a society of a white elite ruling over a predominantly enslaved Black subaltern population, the Haitian Revolution generated a slaveless country that proceeded to suffer with socioeconomic divides.
Synonyms of elite
Forms of elite
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | eliter |
| comparative | more elite |
| superlative | elitest |
| superlative | most elite |
| alternative form | élite |
| Noun | |
| plural | elites |
Origin of elite
From Middle English elit, from Old French elit, eslit (“chosen, elected”) past participle of elire, eslire (“to choose, elect”), from Latin eligere (“to choose, elect”), with past participle electus; see elect.
Words formed from elite
Phrases with elite
Words that rhyme with elite
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- entreat
- fleet
- retreat
- treat
- complete
- conceit
- repeat
- concrete
- discrete
- bittersweet
- suite
- cheat
- cleat
- deceit
- greet
- unseat
- compete
- defeat
- delete
- effete
- escheat
- indiscrete
- leet
- pleat
- skeet
- sleet
- accrete
- beet
- bleat
- gleet
- ifrit
- incomplete
- overeat
- overheat
- petite
- replete
- superheat
- teat
- tweet
- wheat
- yeet
- Bereshit
- Bow Street
- Crete
- discreet
- downbeat
- jeet
- keet
Questions about elite
- What does elite mean?
- Elite means of high birth or social position; aristocratic or patrician.
- What is elite in Tamil?
- Elite in Tamil is உயர்ந்தோர் குழு, மேல் தட்டு, மேட்டுக்குடி. See Elite meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is elite?
- Elite can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce elite?
- Elite is pronounced /ɪˈliːt/ (UK).
Words near elite in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: elite (page history and authors); elite (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); elite (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); elite (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); elite (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-elite.wav.
Cite this entry: “elite.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/elite. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.