intuition

[ in-too-ish-uhn, -tyoo- ]

See synonyms for: intuition intuitions on Thesaurus.com

noun

direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process; immediate apprehension.
a fact, truth, etc., perceived in this way.

a keen and quick insight.
the quality or ability of having such direct perception or quick insight.
Philosophy.
- an immediate cognition of an object not inferred or determined by a previous cognition of the same object.
- any object or truth so discerned.
- pure, untaught, noninferential knowledge.
Linguistics. the ability of the native speaker to make linguistic judgments, as of the grammaticality, ambiguity, equivalence, or nonequivalence of sentences, deriving from the speaker's native-language competence.

Origin of intuition

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Late Latin intuitiōn-, stem of intuitiō “contemplation,” equivalent to Latin intuit(us), past participle of intuērī “to gaze at, contemplate” + -iō -ion; see in-², tuition

Other words from intuition

in·tu·i·tion·less, adjective

Words Nearby intuition

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use intuition in a sentence

If you’re proving something that relies on some sort of geometric intuition or visualization, I never felt sure that I had it 100% correct.
Conducting the Mathematical Orchestra From the Middle | Rachel Crowell | September 2, 2020 | Quanta Magazine
“Neural networks are able to develop an artificial style of intuition,” Szegedy said.
How Close Are Computers to Automating Mathematical Reasoning? | Stephen Ornes | August 27, 2020 | Quanta Magazine
Conjectures arise from inductive reasoning — a kind of intuition about an interesting problem — and proofs generally follow deductive, step-by-step logic.
How Close Are Computers to Automating Mathematical Reasoning? | Stephen Ornes | August 27, 2020 | Quanta Magazine
Sometimes, though, when we do our first real model run, the results come close to my intuition anyway.
Our Election Forecast Didn’t Say What I Thought It Would | Nate Silver (nrsilver@fivethirtyeight.com) | August 17, 2020 | FiveThirtyEight
This corresponds to our own intuitions and experiences, because we humans are almost always responding to what we sense and remember.
Random Search Wired Into Animals May Help Them Hunt | Liam Drew | June 11, 2020 | Quanta Magazine

I fancy Holmes would have destroyed those theories with nothing more than his intuition.
Sherlock Holmes Vs. Jack the Ripper | Clive Irving | November 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
intuition would suggest that economic development is the cause, and pro-gay policies are the effect.
It Gets Better—but Mostly if You Live in a Rich, Democratic Country | Jay Michaelson | November 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
It is an effective combination of intuition and market research.
How Those Crazy Democratic Fundraising Emails Work | David Freedlander | October 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Police files on young people can now be opened with no higher standard than “strong intuition” that they might go abroad to fight.
Western Jihadists in Syria Threaten to Bring Their War Back Home | Maajid Nawaz | April 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Her intuition told her that her job was to continue saving lives rather than join politics.
Ukraine’s Mother Teresa Of The Maidan | Anna Nemtsova | February 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
But Ramona saw now, with infallible intuition, that even as she had loved Alessandro, so Felipe loved her.
Ramona | Helen Hunt Jackson
In that poignant moment of self-revelation Tom's cumbersome machinery of intuition did not fail him.
The Wave | Algernon Blackwood
Oh, yes, you needn't tell me again that it's difficult to distinguish between fancy and intuition.
Three More John Silence Stories | Algernon Blackwood
He fathomed every complication of heart and mind in the modern woman by an intuition of the laws which control her development.
Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z | Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois Christophe
She got the tales by intuition rather than by words, though she was picking up some French at that.
The Amazing Interlude | Mary Roberts Rinehart

British Dictionary definitions for intuition

intuition

/ (ˌɪntjʊˈɪʃən) /

noun

knowledge or belief obtained neither by reason nor by perception
instinctive knowledge or belief

a hunch or unjustified belief
philosophy immediate knowledge of a proposition or object such as Kant's account of our knowledge of sensible objects
the supposed faculty or process by which we obtain any of these

Origin of intuition

C15: from Late Latin intuitiō a contemplation, from Latin intuērī to gaze upon, from tuērī to look at

Derived forms of intuition

intuitional, adjective
intuitionally, 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

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