intellectual
appealing to or engaging the intellect: intellectual pursuits.
of or relating to the intellect or its use: intellectual powers.
possessing or showing intellect or mental capacity, especially to a high degree: an intellectual person.
guided or developed by or relying on the intellect rather than upon emotions or feelings; rational.
characterized by or suggesting a predominance of intellect:an intellectual way of speaking.
a person of superior intellect.
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.
an extremely rational person; a person who relies on intellect rather than on emotions or feelings.
a person professionally engaged in mental labor, as a writer or teacher.
intellectuals, Archaic.
the mental faculties.
things pertaining to the intellect.
Origin of intellectual
1synonym study For intellectual
Other words for intellectual
Other words from intellectual
- in·tel·lec·tu·al·ly, adverb
- in·tel·lec·tu·al·ness, noun
- half-in·tel·lec·tu·al, adjective
- half-in·tel·lec·tu·al·ly, adverb
- hy·per·in·tel·lec·tu·al, adjective
- hy·per·in·tel·lec·tu·al·ly, adverb
- hy·per·in·tel·lec·tu·al·ness, noun
- non·in·tel·lec·tu·al, adjective, noun
- non·in·tel·lec·tu·al·ly, adverb
- non·in·tel·lec·tu·al·ness, noun
- o·ver·in·tel·lec·tu·al, adjective
- o·ver·in·tel·lec·tu·al·ly, adverb
- o·ver·in·tel·lec·tu·al·ness, noun
- pre·in·tel·lec·tu·al, adjective
- pre·in·tel·lec·tu·al·ly, adverb
- qua·si-in·tel·lec·tu·al, adjective
- qua·si-in·tel·lec·tu·al·ly, adverb
- sem·i-in·tel·lec·tu·al, adjective, noun
- sem·i-in·tel·lec·tu·al·ly, adverb
- su·per·in·tel·lec·tu·al, adjective, noun
- su·per·in·tel·lec·tu·al·ly, adverb
- un·in·tel·lec·tu·al, adjective
- un·in·tel·lec·tu·al·ly, adverb
Words that may be confused with intellectual
- intelligent, intellectual (see synonym study at intelligent)
Words Nearby intellectual
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use intellectual in a sentence
I want them to be able to have a positive intellectual experience and be able to give some different thinking that goes along with that emotion that they feel.
This group of nations must have amenable regulations and trade policies to attract international investors, understandable labor laws, and clear respect for intellectual property.
COVID proves that companies need to reduce their dependence on China | matthewheimer | September 11, 2020 | FortuneA model can seem relatively easy to put together, so easy that it’s not even much of an intellectual challenge.
Coronavirus Models Were Always About More Than Flattening The Curve | Maggie Koerth (maggie.koerth-baker@fivethirtyeight.com) | September 10, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightThe soldiers were accused of stealing intellectual property, business plans, and negotiation strategies from companies such as Westinghouse and US Steel.
A brief history of US-China espionage entanglements | Konstantin Kakaes | September 3, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewWe started to build intellectual property in energy transmission generation, to look at how you could rebuild the grid—the thing that hasn’t been upgraded in 150 years.
Uncharted Power’s Jessica O. Matthews has a plan to revive America’s crumbling infrastructure | Brooke Henderson | August 23, 2020 | Fortune
Even the hot Jewish women I mentioned above did something a bit more “intellectual” than pageantry: acting.
Why Was Bess Myerson the First and Last Jewish Miss America? | Emily Shire | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTHowever, intellectual honesty is the first thing to go when you are forced to constantly pander to your base.
Both impart the experience of sitting with brilliant Cubans over a rum to debate the State of Cuban intellectual Life.
An IQ below 70 generally indicates someone with intellectual disability (ID).
How the U.S. Justice System Screws Prisoners with Disabilities | Elizabeth Picciuto | December 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThis is not to suggest that Mailer ever lost the intellectual toughness which was central to his work.
Mailer’s Letters Pack a Punch and a Surprising Degree of Sweetness | Ronald K. Fried | December 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHis also was the intellectual point of view, and the intellectual interest in knowledge and its deductions.
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume II of II) | Henry Osborn TaylorThe intellectual temperament finds voice in many great expressions, which are very Dante and also very Thomas, as Par.
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume II of II) | Henry Osborn TaylorIn our western communities the dangers to the intellectual nexus lie rather on the other side.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation | H. G. (Herbert George) WellsShe was a woman of great intellectual endowment, with highly cultivated literary tastes.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland | Joseph TatlowHis predecessors had to deal with Perry Thomas, and in spite of his gentle ways and intellectual cast, Perry is active and wiry.
The Soldier of the Valley | Nelson Lloyd
British Dictionary definitions for intellectual
/ (ˌɪntɪˈlɛktʃʊəl) /
of or relating to the intellect, as opposed to the emotions
appealing to or characteristic of people with a developed intellect: intellectual literature
expressing or enjoying mental activity
a person who enjoys mental activity and has highly developed tastes in art, literature, etc
a person who uses or works with his intellect
a highly intelligent person
Derived forms of intellectual
- intellectuality or intellectualness, noun
- intellectually, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for intellectual
A person who engages in academic study or critical evaluation of ideas and issues. (See intelligentsia.)
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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