literati
Cultured, bookish class
The literati are the educated class, particularly those engaged with literature, scholarship, and intellectual culture.
The term often carries a hint of exclusivity or pretension—the literary establishment as a somewhat self-regarding circle: The book was praised by the literati but ignored by ordinary readers.
Singular: literatus, though rarely used.
Educated, intellectual class
- enlightenmentProfound spiritual awakening
- humanismPhilosophy prioritizing earthly reason
- rationalismReason as knowledge source
- discourseFormal communication on subjects
dialectic · philosophy · ideology · progressivism · secularism · skepticism · debate · symposium
Expert in matters of taste
- aestheteLover of the beautiful
- bibliophileLover of books
- sophisticateWorldly, cultured person
- cognoscentiKnowledgeable insiders of a field
aficionado · patron · tastemaker · cultivated · discerning · refined · cosmopolitan · salon
intelligentsia
Educated, intellectual class
- enlightenmentProfound spiritual awakening
- humanismPhilosophy prioritizing earthly reason
- rationalismReason as knowledge source
discourse · dialectic · philosophy · ideology · progressivism · secularism · skepticism · debate · symposium · circle
connoisseur
Expert in matters of taste
- aestheteLover of the beautiful
- bibliophileLover of books
- sophisticateWorldly, cultured person
cognoscenti · aficionado · patron · tastemaker · cultivated · discerning · refined · cosmopolitan · salon · belles-lettres
scholar
Learned, studious person
- intellectualConcerning thought and reason
- academicRelating to education or theory
- professorSenior university teacher
erudite · learned · pundit · sage · savant · polymath · philosopher · thinker · doctorate · thesis
poet
Writer of verse
essayist · dramatist · wordsmith · penman · scribe · bard · storyteller · prose · verse · manuscript
- Chinese cultureConfucianism, Chinese calligraphy, Beijing, Chinese New Year, Daoism
- high societygossip, socialites, socialite, aristocrats, aristocrat
- Imperial ChinaHan dynasty, emperor, dynasties, emperors, Three Kingdoms
- Korean historyJoseon dynasty, Three Kingdoms, DMZ, demilitarized zone, Korean DMZ
- Eastern PhilosophyTaoism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism
- intelligentsiaintellectuals, professors, intelligentsia, academics, philosophers
literatiphilistines
Uncultured, materialistic people
ignoramuses · lowbrows · yahoos · dunces · boors
literatithe masses
Common populace collectively
hoi polloi · common people · plebeians · general public · ordinary folk
- literary festivalEvent celebrating authors and books
- literary reviewEvaluation of written works
- children's literatureBooks aimed at youth
- classic literatureEnduring fictional works
- European literatureWritten works from Europe
- German literatureBooks from Deutschland
literature, literary, literate, illiterate, obliterate, illiteracy