intelligent

[in-tel-i-juhnt]

adjective

1. having good understanding or a high mental capacity; quick to comprehend, as persons or animals.

   an intelligent student.

   Synonyms: bright
   Antonyms: stupid

2. displaying or characterized by quickness of understanding, sound thought, or good judgment.

   an intelligent reply.

   Synonyms: smart, shrewd, discerning, apt, bright, alert, clever, astute
   Antonyms: stupid

3. having the faculty of reasoning and understanding; possessing intelligence.

   intelligent beings in outer space.

4. Computers.,  pertaining to the ability to do data processing locally; smart.

   An intelligent terminal can edit input before transmission to a host computer.

5. Archaic.,  having understanding or knowledge (usually followed byof ).

intelligent

/ ɪnˈtɛlɪdʒənt /

adjective

1. having or indicating intelligence

2. having high intelligence; clever

3. indicating high intelligence; perceptive

   an intelligent guess

4. guided by reason; rational

5. (of computerized functions) able to modify action in the light of ongoing events

6. archaic,  having knowledge or information

   they were intelligent of his whereabouts

Other Word Forms

• intelligently adverb
• hyperintelligent adjective
• hyperintelligently adverb
• nonintelligent adjective
• nonintelligently adverb
• preintelligent adjective
• preintelligently adverb
• quasi-intelligent adjective
• quasi-intelligently adverb
• semi-intelligent adjective
• semi-intelligently adverb
• superintelligent adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of intelligent¹

First recorded in 1500–10; from Latin intelligent- (stem of intelligēns, present participle of intelligere, variant of intellegere “to understand,” literally, “choose between),” equivalent to intel- (variant of inter- inter- ) + -lig- (combining form of leg-, stem of legere “to pick up, choose”; lection ) + -ent- -ent

Synonym Study

Intelligent, intellectual describe distinctive mental capacity. Intelligent often suggests a natural quickness of understanding: an intelligent reader. Intellectual implies not only having a high degree of understanding, but also a capacity and taste for the higher forms of knowledge: intellectual interests. See sharp.

Example Sentences

Her pony-scented pigtails had been replaced to great advantage with Simon’s own unruly shock of hair, which tumbled quite naturally over her—his—intelligent forehead.

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There it was: the delicately arched eyebrow, the waves of brown hair cascading poetically over that intelligent forehead....No doubt he was busy thinking up plot twists even now....

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When the military found out how intelligent he was and that he could write and was good at math, he had a leg up over most everyone else.

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"They may not know what science is, but they're navigating complex environments with intelligent and adaptive strategies," she said.

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"We just thought at first they were incredibly intelligent," she tells us.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• astute 
• brainy 
• bright 
• brilliant 
• creative 
• imaginative 
• inventive 
• knowledgeable 
• original 
• perceptive 
• rational 
• resourceful 
• smart 
• well-informed 
• wise