antielite

A1N1T1I1E1L1I1T1E1

adjective

Opposing an elite or elitism.

Scrabble 9

Meanings

adjectiveantielite (comparative more antielite, superlative most antielite)

comparative more antielite · superlative most antielite · alternative anti-elite

  1. human sciencesOpposing an elite or elitism.

    Antielite conspiracism has deep roots in U.S. political culture.

    2000, Chip Berlet, Matthew Nemiroff Lyons, Right-wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort, →ISBN, page 10
    3 more examples

    Moreover , according to informants , this core of antielite opposition is not only limited but also often split.

    1978, Arthur J. Lerman, Taiwan's politics: the provincial assemblyman's world, page 103

    This chapter argues that the antielite, prosubaltern activities of the OPC under Gani Adams should be seen as the latest in a series of subaltern generated actions aimed at questioning the dynamics of elite politics within Yorubaland and Nigeria in general.

    2010, Wale Adebanwi, Ebenezer Obadare, Encountering the Nigerian State, page 140

    Some commentators have suggested that the activity represented by WallStreetBets and Trumpism are part of the same populist, anti-elite phenomenon, but if Trumpism in general is instructive at all here, it’s as a reminder that self-described anti-elite movements can, in fact, turn out to be much more complicated than that.

    2021 January 29, John Herrman, “Everything’s a Joke Until It’s Not”, in The New York Times
nounantielite (plural antielites)

plural antielites · alternative anti-elite

  1. One who is antielite; a proponent of antielitism.

    The model best known so far is the model of counterelites and antielites exercising pressure on their respective governments.

    1981, Johan Galtung, The True Worlds: A Transnational Experience, →ISBN, page 224
    2 more examples

    When, in contrast, elites are only minimally attached to established economic and sociopolitical patterns or they are deeply divided over policy goals, some processes may atrophy (such as state services or economic productivity) and /or the system may become vulnerable to the ideological attacks of antielites who seek to displace the system altogether.

    1976, Leon N. Lindberg, Politics and the future of industrial society, page 170

    The book demonstrates the relationships of Marxism to other philosophies and to populist and reform movements, comments on the compatibility of individual liberty and central authority; indicates how the rise of antielites has reflected a consciousness of problems requiring new political solutions; and notes to what extent Latin American Marxists have contributed to political and social change.

    1986, The Hispanic American historical review, page 448

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

antielite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antielite

MLA

“antielite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antielite. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “antielite,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antielite.

Source: antielite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.