intellectualism
Americannoun
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devotion to intellectual pursuits.
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the exercise of the intellect.
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excessive emphasis on abstract or intellectual matters, especially with a lack of proper consideration for emotions.
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Philosophy.
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the doctrine that knowledge is wholly or chiefly derived from pure reason.
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the belief that reason is the final principle of reality.
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noun
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development and exercise of the intellect
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the placing of excessive value on the intellect, esp with disregard for the emotions
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philosophy
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the doctrine that reason is the ultimate criterion of knowledge
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the doctrine that deliberate action is consequent on a process of conscious or subconscious reasoning
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Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of intellectualism
First recorded in 1820–30; intellectual + -ism
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.
As a rule, the country’s artistic output leans toward intellectualism rather than the virtuosity embodied by high-level athletes.
From New York Times ● Feb. 6, 2024
The art world is all about elitist intellectualism — it’s a gross generalization, but it is true.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2023
With the death of Pope Benedict XI the Catholic world has lost an unrivalled receptacle of theological knowledge, intellectualism and lived experience.
From BBC ● Dec. 31, 2022
In Lauck’s telling, the region became a hotbed of intellectualism: Carnegie libraries flourished, local philosophical and literary societies emerged, schoolhouses were built, land-grant universities were founded.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 7, 2022
It was her right to be upset, her right to choose not to brush her humiliation aside in the name of an overexalted intellectualism, and she would claim that right.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
