intellectual
Americanadjective
-
appealing to or engaging the intellect.
intellectual pursuits.
- Synonyms:
- mental
-
of or relating to the intellect or its use.
intellectual powers.
- Synonyms:
- mental
-
possessing or showing intellect or mental capacity, especially to a high degree.
an intellectual person.
-
guided or developed by or relying on the intellect rather than upon emotions or feelings; rational.
-
characterized by or suggesting a predominance of intellect.
an intellectual way of speaking.
noun
-
a person of superior intellect.
-
a person who places a high value on or pursues things of interest to the intellect or the more complex forms and fields of knowledge, as aesthetic or philosophical matters, especially on an abstract and general level.
-
an extremely rational person; a person who relies on intellect rather than on emotions or feelings.
-
a person professionally engaged in mental labor, as a writer or teacher.
-
Archaic. intellectuals,
-
the mental faculties.
-
things pertaining to the intellect.
-
adjective
-
of or relating to the intellect, as opposed to the emotions
-
appealing to or characteristic of people with a developed intellect
intellectual literature
-
expressing or enjoying mental activity
noun
-
a person who enjoys mental activity and has highly developed tastes in art, literature, etc
-
a person who uses or works with his intellect
-
a highly intelligent person
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A person who engages in academic study or critical evaluation of ideas and issues. (See intelligentsia.)
Related Words
See intelligent.
Other Word Forms
- half-intellectual adjective
- half-intellectually adverb
- hyperintellectual adjective
- hyperintellectually adverb
- hyperintellectualness noun
- intellectuality noun
- intellectually adverb
- intellectualness noun
- nonintellectual adjective
- nonintellectually adverb
- nonintellectualness noun
- overintellectual adjective
- overintellectually adverb
- overintellectualness noun
- preintellectual adjective
- preintellectually adverb
- quasi-intellectual adjective
- quasi-intellectually adverb
- semi-intellectual adjective
- semi-intellectually adverb
- superintellectual adjective
- superintellectually adverb
- unintellectual adjective
- unintellectually adverb
Etymology
Origin of intellectual
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin intellēctuālis, equivalent to intellēctu-, stem of intellēctus intellect + -ālis -al 1
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.
He said Universal had reshaped the industry to put artists at its centre, and had shown it could seize growth opportunities from artificial intelligence while protecting intellectual property.
From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026
These influencers play to audiences largely made up of people who want to be seen atop the moral high ground without putting in the deliberative intellectual work to get there.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026
And as we’re questioning our long-held beliefs about “sink or swim” individualism and intellectual elitism, this is also an interrupter.
From Salon • Apr. 5, 2026
Yet the intellectual impulse behind it has not disappeared.
From Slate • Mar. 31, 2026
Alongside this new framework, the printing press was transforming the nature of intellectual communities, the knowledge they could exchange, and the attitude to authority and to evidence that came naturally to them.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.