clerisy
Educated elite collectively
Clerisy refers to educated people as a class—scholars, intellectuals, and the literate elite who shape culture and opinion.
The term carries a slightly archaic or literary tone, often used to distinguish those who engage with ideas professionally from the general public: The clerisy debated while ordinary citizens got on with their lives.
Unlike clergy, which it echoes, clerisy implies intellectual rather than religious authority.
Experts in a field
- savantsExceptionally learned individuals
- cognoscentiKnowledgeable insiders of a field
- literatiEducated, cultured class
- intelligentsiaEducated, intellectual class
pundits · thinkers · philosophers · sages · polymaths · academics · mandarins · highbrows
Rule by hereditary elite
- privilegeExclusive right or benefit
- exclusivityState of being limited
- gatekeepingControlling access to something
- establishmentFounded organization or venue
highbrow · mandarins · tastemakers · inner circle · old guard · vanguard · upper echelon · rarefied
Educational funding or erudition
- learningGaining knowledge gradually
- lettersAlphabetic characters or mail
- cultivationFostering growth through care
- learnednessScholarly wisdom accumulated
bookishness · wisdom · humanism · classical education · liberal arts · belles-lettres · connoisseurship · refinement
Academic teaching class
- facultyInherent power or ability
- donsPuts on attire
- fellowsCompanions or associates
- lecturersThose who teach formally
tenure · universities · seminars · colloquia · symposia · dissertations · monographs · journals
scholars
Experts in a field
- savantsExceptionally learned individuals
- cognoscentiKnowledgeable insiders of a field
- literatiEducated, cultured class
intelligentsia · pundits · thinkers · philosophers · sages · polymaths · academics · mandarins · highbrows · eggheads
aristocracy
Rule by hereditary elite
- privilegeExclusive right or benefit
- exclusivityState of being limited
- gatekeepingControlling access to something
establishment · highbrow · mandarins · tastemakers · inner circle · old guard · vanguard · upper echelon · rarefied · insular
scholarship
Educational funding or erudition
- learningGaining knowledge gradually
- lettersAlphabetic characters or mail
- cultivationFostering growth through care
learnedness · bookishness · wisdom · humanism · classical education · liberal arts · belles-lettres · connoisseurship · refinement · discernment
professoriate
Academic teaching class
lecturers · tenure · universities · seminars · colloquia · symposia · dissertations · monographs · journals · departments
clerisyphilistines
Uncultured, materialistic people
ignoramuses · yahoos · lowbrows · anti-intellectuals · boors
clerisythe masses
Common populace collectively
hoi polloi · common people · plebeians · proletariat · rank and file
- clerical workRoutine office duties
- clerical errorOffice documentation mistake
- clerical collarClergy's stiff white neckwear
- clerical dutiesOffice support work
- clerical abuseWrongdoing by religious officials
- clerical workerOffice support staff
clerical, cleric, clerics, clerically, anticlerical, anticlericalism, unclerical