Standard Lemma guide

intelligentsia

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪntɛlɪˈd͡ʒɛntsɪə/
  • General-American: /ɪntɛləˈd͡ʒɛn(t)si.ə/
  • General-American: /ɪntɛləˈɡɛn(t)si.ə/
  • Received-Pronunciation, dated: /ɪntɛlɪˈɡɛntsɪə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 N T EH2 L AH0 JH EH1 N T S IY0 AH0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The intellectual elite of a society, particularly in Marxist doctrine.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: government, politics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

an educated and intellectual elite

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: clerisy

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: elite, elite group

Narrower terms: culturati, literati

History

Etymology

From Russian интеллиге́нция (intelligéncija) or Polish inteligencja, from Latin intellegentia (“intelligence”). Doublet of intelligence.

Across languages

Translations

69 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: inteligjencie — intellectual elite
  • Arabic: أَنْتِلِيجِنْسْيَا (ʔantilijinsyā) — intellectual elite
  • Arabic: أَنْتِلِيجِنْسْيَا (ʔantiliginsyā) — intellectual elite
  • Arabic: أَهْل اَلْفَكْر (ʔahl al-fakr) — intellectual elite
  • Armenian: մտավորականություն (mtavorakanutʻyun) — intellectual elite
  • Armenian: ինտելիգենցիա (inteligencʻia) — intellectual elite
  • Azerbaijani: ziyalılar — intellectual elite
  • Azerbaijani: intelligensiya — intellectual elite
  • Belarusian: інтэліге́нцыя (intelihjéncyja) — intellectual elite
  • Bulgarian: интелиге́нция (inteligéncija) — intellectual elite
  • Catalan: intel·liguèntsia — intellectual elite
  • Chinese Mandarin: 知識分子 /知识分子 (zhīshi fènzǐ) — intellectual elite
  • Chinese Mandarin: 知識界 /知识界 (zhīshíjiè, zhīshìjiè) — intellectual elite
  • Czech: inteligence — intellectual elite
  • Danish: intelligentsia — intellectual elite
  • Dutch: intelligentsia — intellectual elite
  • Estonian: haritlaskond — intellectual elite
  • Estonian: intelligents — intellectual elite
  • Estonian: maa sool — intellectual elite
  • Finnish: älymystö — intellectual elite
  • Finnish: intelligentsia — intellectual elite
  • Finnish: sivistyneistö — intellectual elite
  • French: intelligentsia — intellectual elite
  • Georgian: ინტელიგენცია (inṭeligencia) — intellectual elite
  • German: Intelligenz — intellectual elite
  • German: Intelligenzija — intellectual elite
  • Greek: ιντελιγκέντσια (inteligkéntsia) — intellectual elite
  • Hindi: प्रबुद्ध लोग (prabuddh log) — intellectual elite
  • Hungarian: értelmiség — intellectual elite
  • Indonesian: inteligensia — intellectual elite
  • Italian: intellighenzia — intellectual elite
  • Japanese: インテリ (interi) — intellectual elite
  • Japanese: インテリゲンチャ (interigencha) — intellectual elite
  • Japanese: インテリゲンチア (interigenchia) — intellectual elite
  • Kazakh: зиялылар (ziälylar) — intellectual elite
  • Kazakh: интеллигенция (intelligensiä) — intellectual elite
  • Korean: 인텔리겐치아 (intelligenchia) — intellectual elite
  • Kyrgyz: интеллигенция (intelligentsiya) — intellectual elite
  • Kyrgyz: зыялылар (zıyalılar) — intellectual elite
  • Latvian: inteliģence — intellectual elite
  • Lithuanian: inteligentija — intellectual elite
  • Macedonian: интелигенција (inteligencija) — intellectual elite
  • Mongolian: сэхээтэн (sexeeten) — intellectual elite
  • Norwegian Bokmål: intelligentsia — intellectual elite
  • Persian: اینتلیجنتسیا (intelijentsiyâ) — intellectual elite
  • Persian: روشنفکران (rowšanfekrân) — intellectual elite
  • Polish: inteligencja — intellectual elite
  • Portuguese: intelligentsia — intellectual elite
  • Romanian: intelectualitate — intellectual elite
  • Russian: интеллиге́нция (intelligéncija) — intellectual elite
  • Serbo-Croatian: интелигѐнција — intellectual elite
  • Serbo-Croatian: inteligèncija — intellectual elite
  • Slovak: inteligencia — intellectual elite
  • Slovene: inteligenca — intellectual elite
  • Spanish: intelligentsia (inteliguentsia) — intellectual elite
  • Spanish: inteligencia — intellectual elite
  • Swedish: intelligentia — intellectual elite
  • Tagalog: santalinuhan — intellectual elite
  • Tajik: зиёиён (ziyoyiyon) — intellectual elite
  • Tajik: интеллигенция (intelligenciya) — intellectual elite
  • Tatar: зыялылар (zıyalılar) — intellectual elite
  • Tatar: интеллигенция (intelligentsiyä) — intellectual elite
  • Turkish: entelijansiya — intellectual elite
  • Turkish: aydınlar — intellectual elite
  • Turkmen: intelligensiýa — intellectual elite
  • Ukrainian: інтеліге́нція (intelihéncija) — intellectual elite
  • Uzbek: intelligensiya — intellectual elite
  • Uzbek: ziyolilar — intellectual elite
  • Vietnamese: giới trí thức — intellectual elite
Real reading context

intelligentsia in complete knowledge articles