intellectualism

[ in-tl-ek-choo-uh-liz-uhm ]

noun
  1. devotion to intellectual pursuits.

  2. the exercise of the intellect.

  1. excessive emphasis on abstract or intellectual matters, especially with a lack of proper consideration for emotions.

  2. Philosophy.

    • the doctrine that knowledge is wholly or chiefly derived from pure reason.

    • the belief that reason is the final principle of reality.

Origin of intellectualism

1
First recorded in 1820–30; intellectual + -ism

Other words from intellectualism

  • in·tel·lec·tu·al·ist, noun
  • in·tel·lec·tu·al·is·tic, adjective
  • in·tel·lec·tu·al·is·ti·cal·ly, adverb
  • non·in·tel·lec·tu·al·ism, noun
  • o·ver·in·tel·lec·tu·al·ism, noun

Words Nearby intellectualism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use intellectualism in a sentence

  • There the American kids encounter high schools that are deeply, even shockingly, enamored of intellectualism.

    Why the World Is Smarter Than Us | Dana Goldstein | August 9, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Here also appears clearly the anti-intellectualism of Crescas and his disagreement with Maimonides and Gersonides.

  • The Kabbala was at first a protest against too much intellectualism and rigidity in religion.

  • If anywhere, therefore, it is in the psychology of religion that intellectualism is doomed to failure.

  • intellectualism may not always be so clearly other-worldly as Plato shows himself to be in this passage.

    The Behavior of Crowds | Everett Dean Martin
  • No doubt much of the gaiety, the delightful intellectualism of that pleasant refuge, had departed with the altering time.

    The Makers of Modern Rome | Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

British Dictionary definitions for intellectualism

intellectualism

/ (ˌɪntɪˈlɛktʃʊəˌlɪzəm) /


noun
  1. development and exercise of the intellect

  2. the placing of excessive value on the intellect, esp with disregard for the emotions

  1. philosophy

    • the doctrine that reason is the ultimate criterion of knowledge

    • the doctrine that deliberate action is consequent on a process of conscious or subconscious reasoning

Derived forms of intellectualism

  • intellectualist, noun, adjective
  • intellectualistic, adjective
  • intellectualistically, 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