intellectual

[in-tl-ek-choo-uhl]

adjective

1. appealing to or engaging the intellect.

   intellectual pursuits.

   Synonyms: mental

2. of or relating to the intellect or its use.

   intellectual powers.

   Synonyms: mental

3. possessing or showing intellect or mental capacity, especially to a high degree.

   an intellectual person.

4. guided or developed by or relying on the intellect rather than upon emotions or feelings; rational.

5. characterized by or suggesting a predominance of intellect.

   an intellectual way of speaking.

noun

1. a person of superior intellect.

2. a person who places a high value on or pursues things of interest to the intellect or the more complex forms and fields of knowledge, as aesthetic or philosophical matters, especially on an abstract and general level.

3. an extremely rational person; a person who relies on intellect rather than on emotions or feelings.

4. a person professionally engaged in mental labor, as a writer or teacher.

5. Archaic.,  intellectuals,

   1. the mental faculties.

   2. things pertaining to the intellect.

intellectual

/ ˌɪntɪˈlɛktʃʊəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to the intellect, as opposed to the emotions

2. appealing to or characteristic of people with a developed intellect

   intellectual literature

3. expressing or enjoying mental activity

noun

1. a person who enjoys mental activity and has highly developed tastes in art, literature, etc

2. a person who uses or works with his intellect

3. a highly intelligent person

intellectual

1. A person who engages in academic study or critical evaluation of ideas and issues. (See intelligentsia.)

Other Word Forms

• intellectuality noun
• intellectually adverb
• intellectualness noun
• half-intellectual adjective
• half-intellectually adverb
• hyperintellectual adjective
• hyperintellectually adverb
• hyperintellectualness noun
• nonintellectual adjective
• nonintellectually adverb
• nonintellectualness noun
• overintellectual adjective
• overintellectually adverb
• overintellectualness noun
• preintellectual adjective
• preintellectually adverb
• quasi-intellectual adjective
• quasi-intellectually adverb
• semi-intellectual adjective
• semi-intellectually adverb
• superintellectual adjective
• superintellectually adverb
• unintellectual adjective
• unintellectually adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of intellectual¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin intellēctuālis, equivalent to intellēctu-, stem of intellēctus intellect + -ālis -al ¹

Synonym Study

See intelligent.

Example Sentences

To do so, Ms. Sherrill would employ policies from the “abundance” agenda that’s become popular among center-left intellectuals: Streamlined permits for developers, green energy subsidies, and more tax credits for business.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

And in Taxila, a place “where intellectual and artistic freedoms met with a merging of multicultural ideas and expressions,” imported Greek art inspired the now-familiar depiction of the Buddha.

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It often arrives dressed in intellectual respectability framed as concern, skepticism or “just asking questions.”

Read more on Salon

Trade’s most vital contribution was intellectual, giving these cultures access to ideas, methods and technologies they couldn’t have developed alone.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Nobel prizes in the sciences are the result of intellectual capital built over decades of hard work and research.

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Related Words

• cerebral 
• creative 
• highbrow 
• mental 
• psychological 
• rational 
• scholarly 
• thoughtful