We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Philosophy

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What Is an Elitist?

Tricia Christensen
By
Updated: May 23, 2024
Views: 46,033
Share

An elitist is a person who believes that society should be led by a select group of people. In most of the Western world, an elitist would be a person who favored those with wealth, power, education, and/or intellect over the more workaday “common person.” Elitist can also mean pertaining to elitism, and it’s a term that has become increasingly pejorative. When a society has elite members, often structured on wealth or education, many people can belong to an elite or select class, but that doesn’t necessarily make them elitist in a negative sense because many people in the elite are quite capable of empathy for people not as privileged as themselves.

In recent years, the term has been used in a much looser way, and people (especially politicians) who have had access to wealth, power, or superior education have been labeled elitists. The basic implication here is that all people belonging to the upper strata of society will discriminate against other classes, and cannot possibly understand or take a populist view of matters. It’s therefore considered political death if a label of elitist sticks to a politician, since most of the people who make up the voting populace are not members of elite groups.

The term elitist, with synonyms like snob or descriptions like "being in an ivory tower," is then essentially negative. There is little question that true elitists are disconnected from the average person and are practicing a form of discrimination. In places like the United States where a diverse racial population exists, it’s also been suggested that the term elitist is code for terms like racist.

It is still a leap though to make the assumption that a person from the elite classes will always preference his/her own class and puts his/her interests in that class above all else. In the 2008 presidential election, the term was used by both major party candidates to try to define their opposition as elitist. Yet "evidence" for allegations of elitism included things like pointing to wealth and privilege, preferring Starbucks® lattes over a regular cup of Joe, and determining that education at an Ivy League college automatically lead to elitism. These were accusations with the barest shreds of proof given each candidate’s desire to cast himself as populist.

There’s also a line of argument that comes from the populace about whether a member of the elite class is better suited to lead by nature of his/her evidence of success. Wouldn’t a first rate education or acquirement of material wealth suggest some abilities that might not be evidenced by someone with less education or of lower socio-economic status? This is a matter often debated, as to whether it's beneficial for the populace to elect leaders from the elite or to shake things up by electing those who trace their roots to populace origins.

Share
Language & Humanities is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Tricia Christensen
By Tricia Christensen
With a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and years of experience as a Language & Humanities contributor, Tricia Christensen is based in Northern California and brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to her writing. Her wide-ranging interests include reading, writing, medicine, art, film, history, politics, ethics, and religion, all of which she incorporates into her informative articles. Tricia is currently working on her first novel.
Discussion Comments
By anon994677 — On Feb 28, 2016

What prompted me to read this post; I dated a girl who called herself an elitist. She clearly thought she was better than me. A brief on her: 39 years old, flight attendant, divorced, does not have a college degree, is broke and by default has no power.

By rad1234 — On Apr 19, 2012

Many people feel their advanced education in a field gives them validation for them to remove themselves from the inferiority complex they have internalized about themselves. They perceive their educational status gives them license to consider themselves as a "white man" and avail themselves of the privilege that this status may offer.

However, most people who have this problem actually come from lower social groups and use their education to cloak their self contempt and self hate.

By anon169246 — On Apr 20, 2011

Your friend sounds like a prize idiot. Being a friend of his must be hard to take and it's clear people who think money buys class will seldom have or be able to obtain class.

It stems from an arrogance that maybe education creates a superiority complex. Dump him. He will drag you down to his level of inverted snobbery if you are not strong enough, or some day dump you when his elitist superiority exceeds his control.

By anon60161 — On Jan 12, 2010

I have a friend who considers himself and elitist because he has a phd. He is not wealthy nor does he have any power. He constantly makes fun of other people and fools around and cheated on his ex wives and his current partner.

He associates class with money and material possessions. This is guy is truly blind to whom he really is. How do i get across to him that he is living a dream?

Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen
With a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and years of experience as a Language & Humanities contributor,...
Learn more
Share
https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-is-an-elitist.htm
Copy this link
Language & Humanities, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

Language & Humanities, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.