What does egalitarian mean?
Word: Egalitarian
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Egalitarian means based on the belief that all people have equal worth and deserve the same rights and chances.
How do you spell egalitarian?
Syllables: e - gal - i - tar - i - an
Tricky part: The vowel straight after gal is an i, not the a that many pupils expect. Egalatarian is the usual slip.
Watch out for: egalatarian, igalitarian
Memory tip: Light up the middle: hear the word lit there, and picture one lit room where everybody sits at the same table.
Egalitarian in a sentence
Example 1: Our debating society is egalitarian, so a Class 6 speaker gets as much time as a senior.
Example 2: The village panchayat took an egalitarian view and gave every family one vote.
Example 3: Sharing the chores equally made their home a more egalitarian place.
Fun Fact
English borrowed the word from French in the late 1800s, and the French had built it on their own word for equal.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letters to form a word:
egalit_r_an
a) a, i
b) e, i
c) a, e
d) u, i
Show answer
a) a, i. The stressed syllable near the end has the a of care written before the r, and an i comes just after it.
Mingle-Mangle
Unscramble the jumbled word in the sentence and choose the correct word:
The club's triaglanaei rules give the youngest member the same vote as the founder.
a) traditional
b) alternative
c) legitimate
d) egalitarian
Show answer
d) egalitarian. The jumble has three a's and a g; legitimate has an m, alternative a v and traditional a d, none of which is there.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word egalitarian as used in the sentence:
Mrs Dutta runs an egalitarian classroom in which every pupil's idea gets the same hearing.
a) open-minded
b) cheerful
c) democratic
d) elitist
Show answer
d) elitist. An elitist teacher would favour a chosen few, the very thing this classroom avoids.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. referendem 2. egalitarian 3. soveriegn 4. parliment
a) a king or queen who rules a country
b) giving every person the same standing
c) a public vote held on a single question
d) the elected group that makes a country's laws
Show answer
b) giving every person the same standing. Parliament has an a before the m, sovereign takes ei and referendum ends in um.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which school practice is the most egalitarian?
a) keeping the library for senior classes only
b) letting every pupil take a turn as monitor
c) giving toppers alone a seat in the front row
d) saving the best sports kit for the captain
Show answer
b) letting every pupil take a turn as monitor
2. A company hoping to look egalitarian would probably remove ____.
a) separate canteens for managers
b) the notice boards in the hall
c) the staff suggestion box
d) the lunch break for all staff
Show answer
a) separate canteens for managers
