Dictionary

chatterati en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Etymology

Blend of chatter + literati, attested since 1990.

Meanings

1. (plural, plural-only) People who chat, argue and debate.
   • 2005 Christina Odone, in the Manchester Guardian, quoted in Credo by Ray Pritchard http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN1581347197&id=uR7gKh4CWUIC&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&sig=58JatuzqcghLCAd6Tazni_ntH2U From when to die to when to give birth, from whom to have sex with, to how to spend their money, the chatteratis believe they should enjoy unlimited freedom.
   • Perhaps some Anatolian Leigh Fermor had a bestseller among the chatterati of Topkapi with his Travels in the Egripos. 2004, John Mole, It's All Greek to Me:
   • At last, after many years, the doctrine of multi-culturalism is being questioned. The chatterati have long held onto this as a core belief, a multi-cultural society where hundreds of different cultures exist side by side, and anyone criticising it has been labeled as a racist. 2004 January 20, Peter Simmons, “political incorrectness and the chatterati”, in One World Net, archived from the original on 28 Jul 2023:
   • 2002, Annabelle Sreberny, “Trauma talk,” in Journalism After September 11, Barbara Zelizer and Stuart Allan edd. http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0415287995&id=zHs5FsL2pAIC&pg=PA222&lpg=PA222&sig=xCPKCNE7rqbp3yj9eDEhIlq_94o The newspaper the Guardian, together with its Sunday sister the Observer, are the liberal papers of choice among the middle-class chatterati.

Forms

Synonyms

chattering classes