pseudointellectual

American  

[soo-doh-in-tl-ek-choo-uhl] / ˌsu doʊˌɪn tlˈɛk tʃu əl /

noun

1. a person exhibiting intellectual pretensions that have no basis in sound scholarship.

2. a person who pretends an interest in intellectual matters for reasons of status.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characterized by fraudulent intellectuality; unscholarly.

   a pseudointellectual book.

Other Word Forms

• pseudointellectually adverb

Etymology

Origin of pseudointellectual

First recorded in 1935–40; pseudo- + intellectual

Example Sentences

She was explaining to Gyllenhaal how she based a character in her latest film, “Don’t Worry Darling,” on Jordan Peterson, a professor turned proselytizer whom Wilde described as “this pseudointellectual hero to the incel community.”

From Washington Post

Roth, I’m guessing, would have recoiled at all this pseudointellectual militancy.

From Washington Post

And yet: The pseudointellectual brain trust that has long powered the GOP is now lobbying against adequately funding the IRS.

From Washington Post

He even worked up an entirely different approach to the character, giving him a backstory in Paris as a pretentious pseudointellectual.

From Washington Post

All I cared about was Pacey Witter and Joey Potter growing old together and adopting me as their fast-talking, pseudointellectual daughter, Amanda Witter-Potter.

From Salon