How to Use elitist in a Sentence

elitist

1 of 2 noun
  • But that isn’t to say the prolific 79-year-old artist is an elitist.
    — Leena Kim, Town & Country, 14 June 2022
  • It can be used as either a disparaging or playful way of calling someone an elitist.
    — Deb Amlen, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2022
  • He’s known for brash takes on politics and appears to relish taking down moralists and elitists.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 20 July 2025
  • Don’t be a scold, don’t be a moaner, don’t be a finger-wagging elitist, don’t be an eco-bore, don’t be a mentally ill homeless guy.
    — James Parker, The Atlantic, 5 May 2022
  • Those unions’ rank and file, increasingly, see Democrats as cultural elitists who look down on them and want to replace their jobs.
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 27 Oct. 2025
  • So why would audiences care about a liar and cheater desperate to gain acceptance among horrible elitists at an exclusive club?
    — Jordan Riefe, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2024
  • In his debut on the Democratic ticket this week, Walz wasted no time trying to paint Vance as an out-of-touch elitist.
    — Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 8 Aug. 2024
  • An entire industry that’s devoted to convincing white people that liberal elitists look down on them.
    — Rebecca Solnit november 19, Literary Hub, 19 Nov. 2020
  • Looking for a reason to dub classical music elitist, an ongoing memory of monarchs, look no further.
    — Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 31 Dec. 2024
  • Ava’s a comedy elitist, believing funny stories are preferable to the zingers that have been the bedrock of Deborah’s career.
    — Jeanne Jakle, San Antonio Express-News, 11 May 2021
  • Miller portrayed Warner as an elitist who spent too much time squiring stars, including Barbara Walters.
    — Eileen Putman, Anchorage Daily News, 26 May 2021
  • Platform a fierier populist message on the economy and a cooler one on cultural issues that make some of his members feel like Democrats are out-of-touch elitists.
    — Elizabeth Both, NBC News, 18 Nov. 2024
  • In a Fox News interview, Carr portrayed Kimmel as an elitist and his own interests as those of the community.
    — Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Kennan was a lonely child whose mother died shortly after his birth, a difficult colleague and frustrated diplomat, an elitist more at home in another century and a pessimist at heart.
    — Richard Babcock, Chicago Tribune, 12 May 2024
  • And voters’ belief that its beneficiaries are complacent elitists skilled only in symbolic victory can no longer be blamed on brainwashing by right-wing media.
    — Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 19 Jan. 2025
  • The private remark reinforced a sense, even among conservatives, that the wealthy businessman was an out-of-touch elitist who was ready to write-off about half the country as indifferent to his economic agenda.
    — Philip Elliott, Time, 24 Sep. 2025
  • Mocking people without coming across as a patronizing elitist is an incredibly difficult feat, and Burr seems to understand how to walk across that line, without stumbling.
    — Dani Di Placido, Forbes, 21 May 2021
  • Republicans capitalized on this trend by depicting Democrats as out-of-touch elitists who ignored those who did not live in urban centers such as Madison or Milwaukee.
    — Jonathan J. Kasparek, The Conversation, 4 June 2024
  • It’s been argued that all publicity is good publicity, but the six-city tour is also testing those limits as Newsom seeks to shake off the image, fair or not, of a liberal elitist out of touch with Main Street.
    — Michael R. Blood, Associated Press, 24 Feb. 2026
  • And without defenders, enemies redefined liberals, first as out-of-touch elitists, then as allies of corporations ignoring the demands of working people, and eventually, today, as woke snowflakes.
    — Kevin M. Schultz, The Conversation, 8 May 2025
  • Washington and Silicon Valley, right and left, populists and elitists—all will have to find a way to forge a new social and political contract, one that marries new technologies with the principles of limited power.
    — Anne-Marie Slaughter, Foreign Affairs, 4 Oct. 2016
  • By 1990, bootleg versions of the book had washed up for sale in the pages of far-right magazines, peddled alongside sulfurous predictions of American concentration camps and a helpful who’s who of global elitists.
    — Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 19 Feb. 2025
  • His international experience, critics say, is running in rarefied circles like the World Economic Forum in Davos, painting him as an out-of-touch global elitist who has not spent any time dealing with ordinary people.
    — Matina Stevis-Gridneff, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2025
  • O'Toole has sought to capitalize on the perception that Trudeau, the son of a former Canadian prime minister, is a classic liberal political elitist who is more interested in his own political ambition that leading the country.
    — Paula Newton and Luke McGee, CNN, 20 Sep. 2021
  • Continue reading … IN OTHER NEWS ‘GOLDEN’ GETAWAY – Top 5 visa destinations that elitists flocked to in 2025 for residency.
    — FOXNews.com, 30 Dec. 2025

elitist

2 of 2 adjective
  • No culture is too haughty for a sight gag or too elitist for a pun.
    — Michelle Cohn, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2022
  • Just so smug and elitist and short-sighted.
    — Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 11 Sep. 2025
  • The market is opaque and elitist.
    — Magnus Resch, ARTnews.com, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Those are more elitist bakeries.
    — Vivian Song, CNN Money, 8 Nov. 2025
  • Cinephiles can be a bit elitist about their preference for movies on film.
    — Alfredo Sosa, Christian Science Monitor, 27 Feb. 2025
  • But [at the same time], the fashion world itself was so elitist.
    — Luke Leitch, Vogue, 13 Jan. 2023
  • Art doesn’t have to be exclusive or elitist.
    — Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Oct. 2025
  • Those who criticize golf often say the sport is elitist and costs too much.
    — Tom Pilcher, CNN, 13 Oct. 2020
  • The fashion world, the Met Gala, all of that can feel very elitist at times.
    — Emil Wilbekin, Essence, 21 Aug. 2023
  • Indeed, Davos has been seen by some as elitist and out-of-touch, Scholte said.
    — Lucy Handley, CNBC, 19 Jan. 2026
  • There’s no elitist choosing that happens, like with the vampire.
    — Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 10 Nov. 2025
  • French politics has become an elitist preserve of white men from the best schools.
    — Nabila Ramdani, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
  • The notion that there is something snobbish and elitist about dressing up.
    — Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 8 Jan. 2024
  • There could have been plenty elitist about Neneh Cherry.
    — EW.com, 13 Aug. 2025
  • College antics that used to be accepted are now seen as elitist, sexist, or worse.
    — Will Jeakle, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2022
  • Many see her as the no-fuss royal, with neither a temper nor elitist airs, the steady calm at Charles’s side.
    — Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post, 14 Sep. 2022
  • And about having specific opinions about art not being some elitist hoity-toity thing.
    — Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Dec. 2023
  • But what is elitist today could be equal or even essential tomorrow.
    — Martin Boyd, Forbes, 25 July 2022
  • But no, the competition is more elitist than ever.
    — Jack Lang, New York Times, 28 May 2026
  • This was an elitist private members' club with strict conditions for entry.
    — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 22 Aug. 2025
  • Some residents and businesses on Pico paint the gates as elitist.
    — Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2024
  • The tournament is largely removed from its reputation as an elitist sport for the rich.
    — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2023
  • Some people think that Latinx is an elitist term that is mostly used in academic settings.
    — Minhae Shim Roth, Good Housekeeping, 1 Sep. 2020
  • López Obrador denies the reforms are a threat to democracy and says criticism is elitist.
    — Fabiola Sanchez, ajc, 27 Feb. 2023
  • In fact, the idea that a worker should never have a rough patch in their career, or a period without a decent job, is deeply elitist.
    — Cynthia Watson, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2023
  • Throughout her career, Freelon has often had to push back against norms that feel elitist and segregated.
    — Michelle Aslam, Dallas News, 6 Apr. 2023
  • Many of his solutions, too, have been derided as distinctly elitist.
    — Katherine Dunn, Fortune, 15 Oct. 2021
  • There is no elitist sectioning or dynamic pricing.
    — Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 16 May 2026
  • There's nothing elitist about lang; everyone's invited to her party.
    — EW.com, 13 Aug. 2025
  • The org was designed to be elitist, accepting only top professionals.
    — Tim Gray, Variety, 5 Mar. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'elitist.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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