Elite
(often used with a plural verb) the choice or best of anything considered collectively, as of a group or class of persons.
(used with a plural verb) persons of the highest class:
Only the elite were there.
a group of persons exercising the major share of authority or influence within a larger group:
the power elite of a major political party.
a type, approximately 10-point in printing-type size, widely used in typewriters and having 12 characters to the inch.
Compare 1 .
representing the most choice or select; best:
an elite group of authors.
Contemporary Examples
Sure, elite Republican opinion is changing, but much of the conservative movement remains ferociously opposed to gay rights.
Freedom to Marry for Young Conservatives: The GOP Gay Marriage Push Michelle Goldberg July 11, 2012
And were the elite police sharpshooters stationed on the rooftops overlooking Nahda and Rabaa squares acting in self-defense?
The Criminal Folly of the Egyptian Armed Forces Bernard-Henri Lévy August 19, 2013
But to watch two elite players counterlooping back and forth with gravity-defying spin is remarkable.
Ping-Pong: America’s Most Overlooked Sport? Matt Simon August 11, 2012
Is this a variant of that elite condescension for ordinary folks who are “bitter,” and who “cling to guns and religion”?
Obama’s Turban Anxiety Tunku Varadarajan October 19, 2010
Or was she in fact a maligned victim of elite snobbery (see “pin up girl,” above) by toffee-nosed, Georgetown cocktail-swillers?
Sarah Palin, the Sequel Christopher Buckley November 9, 2008
Historical Examples
Soon they reached the dirty, plastic front of the elite Cafe.
Foundling on Venus John de Courcy
The elite Confectionery will occupy these premises Dec. 10th.
Mixed Faces Roy Norton
His hope now turns exclusively towards the elite, towards the few who have remained free.
Romain Rolland Stefan Zweig
The elite of the army was in the Netherlands; there he could find what he desired.
A Word Only A Word, Complete Georg Ebers
A ball was given in the evening, at which about 300 persons were present—the elite of Melbourne society.
A Boy’s Voyage Round the World The Son of Samuel Smiles
noun
(sometimes functioning as pl) the most powerful, rich, gifted, or educated members of a group, community, etc
Also called twelve pitch. a typewriter typesize having 12 characters to the inch
adjective
of, relating to, or suitable for an elite; exclusive
n.
1823, from French élite “selection, choice,” from Old French eslite (12c.), fem. past participle of elire, elisre “pick out, choose,” from Latin eligere “choose” (see election). Borrowed in Middle English as “chosen person” (late 14c.), especially a bishop-elect; died out mid-15c.; re-introduced by Byron’s “Don Juan.” As an adjective by 1852. As a typeface, first recorded 1920.
1. A term used to describe skilled crackers or hackers, or their deeds. In the last sense, compare to elegant.
The term is also used to describe exclusive forums (ftp sites, BBSs) used for trading pirated software, cracking tools, or phreaking codes.
(1997-01-31)
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practice of or belief in rule by an . consciousness of or pride in belonging to a select or favored group. noun the belief that society should be governed by a select group of gifted and highly educated individuals such government pride in or awareness of being one of an elite group n. 1951; see […]
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practice of or belief in rule by an . consciousness of or pride in belonging to a select or favored group. Contemporary Examples That is not to say the students who submit to the elitism and racism promoted by the USC Greek system are wholly sympathetic. Stepford Sororities: The Pressures of USC’s Greek Life Maya […]
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(of a person or class of persons) considered superior by others or by themselves, as in intellect, talent, power, wealth, or position in society: elitist country clubbers who have theirs and don’t care about anybody else. catering to or associated with an elitist class, its ideologies, or its institutions: Even at such a small, private […]
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of or relating to a substance that is useful in the suppression of nausea or vomiting. any such substance. Historical Examples The nausea returned at certain moments, but these attacks were disposed of by ginger ale and Rivires’ antiemetic drink. Against The Grain Joris-Karl Huysmans adjective preventing vomiting noun any antiemetic drug, such as promethazine […]
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a person who follows an method. a quack; charlatan. . Contemporary Examples The count considered Lincoln an “honest man of nature, perhaps an empiric, doctoring with innocent juices from herbs.” President Lincoln’s Twitter Mole Kevin Peraino October 25, 2013 Historical Examples Our laws are not empiric, but their reason is seldom apparent to those who […]