intelligent
Americanadjective
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having good understanding or a high mental capacity; quick to comprehend, as persons or animals.
an intelligent student.
- Synonyms:
- bright
- Antonyms:
- stupid
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displaying or characterized by quickness of understanding, sound thought, or good judgment.
an intelligent reply.
- Antonyms:
- stupid
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having the faculty of reasoning and understanding; possessing intelligence.
intelligent beings in outer space.
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Computers. pertaining to the ability to do data processing locally; smart.
An intelligent terminal can edit input before transmission to a host computer.
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Archaic. having understanding or knowledge (usually followed byof ).
adjective
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having or indicating intelligence
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having high intelligence; clever
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indicating high intelligence; perceptive
an intelligent guess
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guided by reason; rational
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(of computerized functions) able to modify action in the light of ongoing events
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archaic having knowledge or information
they were intelligent of his whereabouts
Related Words
Intelligent, intellectual describe distinctive mental capacity. Intelligent often suggests a natural quickness of understanding: an intelligent reader. Intellectual implies not only having a high degree of understanding, but also a capacity and taste for the higher forms of knowledge: intellectual interests. See sharp.
Other Word Forms
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hyperintelligentadjective
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hyperintelligentlyadverb
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intelligentlyadverb
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nonintelligentadjective
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nonintelligentlyadverb
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preintelligentadjective
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preintelligentlyadverb
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quasi-intelligentadjective
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quasi-intelligentlyadverb
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semi-intelligentadjective
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semi-intelligentlyadverb
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superintelligentadjective
Etymology
Origin of intelligent
First recorded in 1500–10; from Latin intelligent- (stem of intelligēns, present participle of intelligere, variant of intellegere “to understand,” literally, “choose between),” equivalent to intel- (variant of inter- inter- ) + -lig- (combining form of leg-, stem of legere “to pick up, choose”; cf. lection) + -ent- -ent
Explanation
Humans? Intelligent! Potted plants? Not so much. Intelligent means smart, or having the ability to process and understand information (including dictionary definitions). Intelligent comes from a Latin word meaning "to understand, to gather," and intelligent creatures gather and make sense of information easily. Intelligent also refers to the ability to think. Intelligent objects, like speakers or software, seem to think in the way they react to change. If we’re looking for intelligent life on Mars, we want Martians who can reason. Intelligent also means showing good judgement, like an intelligent decision not to invite all those Martians to your birthday party.
Vocabulary lists containing intelligent
More Positive Words to Describe a Person
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Positive Words to Describe People, List 1
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List 5
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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.
Intelligent, funny, curious and humble, Gosling’s Grace is essentially a clone of the character Matt Damon played in 2015’s “The Martian,” a geek you want to grab an intergalactic beer with.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026
The e-signature company does have its own AI platform called Intelligent Agreement Management, or IAM.
From Barron's • Mar. 17, 2026
The study, published in the ACM journal Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems, also highlights a problem with how AI design tools are typically assessed.
From Science Daily • Mar. 15, 2026
The current system Tesla sells in China has been branded as Intelligent Assisted Driving and offers more limited capabilities than the Full Self-Driving system offered in the U.S.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 6, 2026
Intelligent beings can solve problems better, live longer and leave more offspring; until the invention of nuclear weapons, intelligence powerfully aided survival.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
