unintelligent

American  

[uhn-in-tel-i-juhnt] / ˌʌn ɪnˈtɛl ɪ dʒənt /

adjective

1. deficient in intelligence; dull; stupid.

   Even the most unintelligent intern knew how to operate this copy machine.

2. characterized by or proceeding from a lack of intelligence.

   No one will respect you as long as you go around making unintelligent remarks like that.

3. not endowed with the ability to think or reason.

   We should protect unintelligent life like trees and protozoa as well as intelligent life like humans and dolphins.

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unintelligent British  

/ ˌʌnɪnˈtɛlɪdʒənt /

adjective

1. lacking intelligence; stupid; foolish

2. not endowed with a mind or intelligence

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Commonly Confused

See stupid ( def. ).

Other Word Forms

• unintelligence
  noun
• unintelligently
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of unintelligent

First recorded in 1600–10; un- ¹ + intelligent

Explanation

Unintelligent means exactly what it sounds like it means––not intelligent, not smart. Your unintelligent dog might not know his own name, but you love him for his goofy sweetness anyway. Don't confuse unintelligent with unintelligible. Unintelligible means something that can't be understood. Some doctors have handwriting so messy as to be considered unintelligible, but that doesn't mean they're unintelligent. If your cell phone signal is weak, you might find that what your mom is telling you on the phone becomes unintelligible to you — but that doesn't make you unintelligent.

Example Sentences

To irradiate with intelligence, that is to say, with order, arrangement and all blessedness, the Chaotic, Unintelligent: how, except by educating, can you-accomplish this?

From Past and Present by Carlyle, Thomas

Unintelligent and contradictory rumors bewildered the police for a time, but they formed a long picket line covering an arc which stretched from North Beach to the new gas-works far beyond Black Point.

From The Ape, the Idiot & Other People by Morrow, W. C.

To irradiate with intelligence, that is to say, with order, arrangement and all blessedness, the Chaotic, Unintelligent: how, except by educating, can you accomplish this?

From Past and Present Thomas Carlyle's Collected Works, Vol. XIII. by Carlyle, Thomas

Unintelligent inbreeding as practiced on many a farm, results in run down stock, not so much from inbreeding as from lack of selection.

From The Dollar Hen by Hastings, Milo M. (Milo Milton)

"Unintelligent admiration must be a bore to people who know, and Mr. Darrow tells me you are almost as learned as your son."

From Sanctuary by Wharton, Edith