intuit

American  

[in-too-it, -tyoo-, in-too-it, -tyoo-] / ɪnˈtu ɪt, -ˈtju-, ˈɪn tu ɪt, -tju- /

verb (used with or without object)

intuits, present (3rd person singular) intuited, past participle, past intuiting present participle

1. to know or receive by intuition.

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intuit British  

/ ɪnˈtjuːɪt /

verb

1. to know or discover by intuition

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• intuitable
  adjective
• unintuitable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• intuiting
  present
• intuited
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• intuit
  simple
• intuits
  simple
• have intuited
  perfect
• has intuited
  perfect
• am intuiting
  progressive
• are intuiting
  progressive
• is intuiting
  progressive
• have been intuiting
  perfect progressive
• has been intuiting
  perfect progressive

Past

• intuited
  simple
• had intuited
  perfect
• was intuiting
  progressive
• were intuiting
  progressive
• had been intuiting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will intuit
  simple
• will have intuited
  perfect
• will be intuiting
  progressive
• will have been intuiting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of intuit

First recorded in 1770–80; back formation from intuition

Explanation

To intuit is to get a strong sense of something using only your intuition. You might give up on a job interview halfway through, if you intuit that the job wouldn't be a good fit for you. When you have a hunch about something, you intuit. For example, a pregnant woman might intuit that she's having twins, and a teacher might intuit that a student is having a hard day and needs some extra attention. The earliest meaning of intuit was "to tutor," until the mid-19th century. The word comes from the Latin root intueri, "look at, comprehend, or contemplate."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

intuit intuits intuited intuiting

“Children,” she notes in “The Well-Educated Child,” “can intuit how you feel about them,” which is “why we hired people who genuinely loved kids.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

And there are those who just hum a few bars and allow the musicians to intuit the key and melody enough to follow along.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2025

The meaning is not something that a lay person can necessarily intuit.

From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2025

I look for patterns and try to intuit a policy out of the behavior and the decisions.

From Slate ● May 24, 2025

Theo gives a formal bow at the neck, which he must intuit would appeal to my father’s sense of respect and decorum.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

For the target, as “Fellow Travelers” intuits, isn’t queerness, or racial equality, or anti-capitalism per se, but nonconformity of any sort, which power seeks to stamp out for its own preservation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2023

But what a child intuits, grown scientists struggle to understand in detail.

From Science Magazine ● Apr. 6, 2023

Also, it's Winnie's 16th birthday, which Mother Witch intuits.

From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2022

With surprising ease, she intuits how they operate.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 18, 2021

When I walk back onto the street, the father intuits my apprehension.

From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak

Growing up in Hawaii, she came from a long line of “kitchen witches,” she explains — women who intuited measurements, spices and when a cake was done from the next room.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026

Study after study now confirms what my father and mother intuited long before science caught up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026

As Diamond intuited, geographic mechanisms were significant in some areas, but the continent's dominant axis did not uniformly dictate the potential for cultural spread.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 14, 2024

Now in his late-20s, Gary had been self-conscious about his weight at the time, and Yoko quickly intuited the source of his anxiety.

From Salon ● Nov. 9, 2023

Barely a pause, but a pause nonetheless as the caller intuited that something wasn’t right.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Gordon had a few small parts in her parents’ projects, but otherwise she stuck to school and camp and community shows, intuiting that she could not yet handle the rejection that auditioning would bring.

From New York Times ● Jun. 28, 2023

“Part of being an editor is intuiting what it is that a writer wants or needs from you, and it’s different with every writer,” he says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2022

Saito works alone and with obvious joy here, engaging with a ready laugh, intuiting when to let you savor, entertaining any and all questions, slipping into the back sometimes for preparation.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 22, 2022

For their part, Banville’s characters seem highly self-aware, intuiting the existence of a higher power that is toying with them and wondering what he is up to.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 31, 2022

Bob Golomb is a great car salesman because he is very good, in the moment, at intuiting the intentions and needs and emotions of his customers.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell