Elitist is another word for “snob." If you went to Harvard, wear only the finest silk suits, and hang around only with other Ivy League graduates, then you’re an elitist.
A fairly recent addition to the English language, the noun elitist, came about from a mix of elite + ist in 1950. Carlyle, Freud, and Nietzsche were all considered to be the original elitists. Elite, from which elitist was formed, evolved much earlier, in 1823, from the French élite, meaning “selection, choice.” Synonyms for elitist include highbrow, pompous person, social climber, and stuffed shirt.
