intellectualize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to seek or consider the rational content or form of.
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to make intellectual.
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to analyze (something) intellectually or rationally.
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to ignore the emotional or psychological significance of (an action, feeling, dream, etc.) by an excessively intellectual or abstract explanation.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to make or become intellectual
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(tr) to treat or consider in an intellectual way; rationalize
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of intellectualize
First recorded in 1810–20; intellectual + -ize
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.
See Examples For:
Kris can intellectualize her “Camp Miasma” fandom all she wants.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
“If you’re able to intellectualize that information and verbalize, this isn’t for you,” she says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2025
They can afford to intellectualize what for us is an existential threat.
From Salon ● Feb. 3, 2020
“We can talk about these issues, intellectualize, but to see, actually see . . .”
From Washington Post ● Dec. 24, 2019
Similar to many of the other methods, the Orff Schulwerk emphasizes that children should experience first and then analyze or intellectualize about music afterwards, and encourages hands-on music-making regardless of skill level.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
Ms. Nunez stages intellectualized confrontations with elemental terrors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
“Don’t say that,” jokes Gerwig at the implication of the film’s more intellectualized leanings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2023
“Though it’s abstract, it doesn’t strike me as intellectualized or at all forced,” he says.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 23, 2021
I don’t know the appeal—I’ve not intellectualized it.
From Salon ● May 24, 2019
Their defects are equally plain; one sees that their simplicity all but ceases to be a virtue at times, and that at times their feeling is too much intellectualized.
From Modern Italian Poets Essays and Versions by William Dean Howells
Putting all intellectualizing aside for a moment, the main reason "Peacemaker" succeeds is because it remembers to have a good time while delivering a satisfying wallop to people that we can universally agree are terrible.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2022
I was spiraling about what it all meant, intellectualizing my grief into metaphor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2021
There is a logical point behind what I am saying, not just cynical intellectualizing garbage.
From New York Times ● Dec. 26, 2017
Transported by her own intellectualizing of other humans, Hustvedt frequently loses sight of the humans themselves.
From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2017
The higher we go in intellectualizing ourselves, the closer we draw to the cosmic consciousness, and the more familiar we become with its laws.
From Freedom Talks No. II by Julia Seton M.D.
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
