aristocratic
Americanadjective
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of or relating to government by an aristocracy.
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belonging to or favoring the aristocracy.
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characteristic of an aristocrat; having the manners, values, or qualities associated with the aristocracy.
aristocratic bearing; aristocratic snobbishness.
adjective
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relating to or characteristic of aristocracy or an aristocrat
-
elegant or stylish in appearance and behaviour
Other Word Forms
- antiaristocratic adjective
- antiaristocratical adjective
- antiaristocratically adverb
- aristocratically adverb
- aristocraticalness noun
- aristocraticness noun
- nonaristocratic adjective
- nonaristocratical adjective
- nonaristocratically adverb
- proaristocratic adjective
- pseudoaristocratic adjective
- pseudoaristocratical adjective
- pseudoaristocratically adverb
- unaristocratic adjective
- unaristocratically adverb
Etymology
Origin of aristocratic
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Greek aristokratikós “pertaining to aristocracy,” from aristokrat(ía) “rule of the best” ( aristocracy ) + -ikos -ic
Explanation
The word aristocratic describes a person at the highest level of society — such as a prince or a duchess — or those people or things that are so distinguished that they seem to belong to that group. First used around the 1560s, the adjective aristocratic has origins in the Greek word aristokratia, meaning "government, rule of the best." An aristocratic person usually gains this social status through birthright rather than demonstrated merit. Aristocratic can describe someone or something belonging to this group, like an aristocratic estate or an aristocratic leader, but it can also describe something grand and elegant. You might have an aristocratic expression on your face as you attend a formal party.
Vocabulary lists containing aristocratic
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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The Catcher in the Rye
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Content Summary 4.4: Early Modern Islamic Empires
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
David embraced aristocratic country life and distrusted outsiders; Sydney enjoyed London, music and company.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
The afterglow of aristocratic grace, the poet noted, was obscured by the “rising tide of democracy, which invades and levels all things.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 15, 2026
"I know it's tradition but it suggests MPs are on some kind of aristocratic level," she says.
From BBC • Dec. 29, 2025
Born in 1942 to an aristocratic British family in Dorset, England, Douglas-Hamilton studied biology and zoology in Scotland and Oxford before moving to Tanzania to research elephant social behaviour.
From BBC • Dec. 9, 2025
‘Ah, what elegance! What aristocratic distinction! Can that really be decayed cat that I smell? With a delicate overtone of rotten camel! Ah, the gorgeous East!”
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
