Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Having special rights, advantages, or immunities granted to a particular person or group: Describes a person, group, or position that enjoys benefits, opportunities, or freedoms not available to most others, often due to social status, wealth, or power.
   • Confined to an exclusive group; not public or general: Refers to information, knowledge, or communication that is restricted to a select few who are authorized to access it.
   • Not subject to the usual rules, penalties, or liabilities: Describes a legal or official status that provides protection or exemption from standard consequences.

Usage and Examples

• Adjective:
  • She comes from a very privileged background and attended the best private schools. (This describes someone who has social and economic advantages.)
  • The committee had access to privileged information about the merger. (This refers to confidential information restricted to a specific group.)
  • As a diplomat, his statements in court were privileged and could not be used against him. (This describes legal protection from standard rules.)

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• "The privileged few": A common phrase referring to a small, elite group in society that possesses significant advantages.
  • The policy benefited only the privileged few, not the general population.
• "Privileged position": Describes a role or situation that offers special advantages or a favorable viewpoint.
  • As a researcher, she was in a privileged position to observe the events firsthand.
• "Privileged communication": A legal term for conversations that are legally protected from being disclosed in court, such as those between a lawyer and client.
  • What you tell your attorney is considered privileged communication.

Variants and Related Words

• Privilege (noun): A special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.
  • Education should be a right, not a privilege.
• Underprivileged (adjective): Lacking the rights, advantages, and opportunities that most people have; disadvantaged.
  • Charities work to support underprivileged communities.

Synonyms

• Advantaged: Having a comparatively favorable position.
• Elite: Representing the choice part; the best or most powerful within a society.
• Confidential: Intended to be kept secret; private.

Antonyms

• Disadvantaged: Lacking the normal or basic necessities of life; underprivileged.
• Underprivileged: (As above).
• Public: Open to or shared by all the people.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• "Check your privilege": A modern idiom urging someone to recognize the unearned advantages they may have due to their social identity (e.g., race, gender, class) and to consider perspectives of those without them.
  • Before criticizing their struggle, you need to check your privilege.
• "White privilege": A specific sociological concept referring to societal privileges that benefit white people beyond what is commonly experienced by non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances.
  • The workshop aimed to educate participants about systemic racism and white privilege.

Adjective

1. confined to an exclusive group
   • privy to inner knowledge
   • inside information
   • privileged information
2. not subject to usual rules or penalties
   • a privileged statement
3. blessed with privileges
   • the privileged few