intellectual

¹in·tel·lec·tu·al

adj
\ˌin-tə-ˈlek-chə-wəl, -chəl, -shwəl, -chü(-ə)l\

Definition of INTELLECTUAL

1

a : of or relating to the intellect or its use b : developed or chiefly guided by the intellect rather than by emotion or experience : rational c : requiring use of the intellect <intellectual games>

2

a : given to study, reflection, and speculation b : engaged in activity requiring the creative use of the intellect <intellectual playwrights>

— in·tel·lec·tu·al·i·ty \-ˌlek-chə-ˈwa-lə-tē\ noun

— in·tel·lec·tu·al·ly \-ˈlek-chə-wə-lē, -chə-lē, -shwə-lē, -chü(-ə)-lē\ adverb

— in·tel·lec·tu·al·ness \-ˈlek-chə-wəl-nəs, -chəl-, -shwəl-, -chü(-ə)l-\ noun

Examples of INTELLECTUAL

1. the social and intellectual life of the campus
2. <as the daughter of college professors, she's used to being around intellectual people>

First Known Use of INTELLECTUAL

14th century

Related to INTELLECTUAL

Synonyms: blue, cerebral, eggheaded, geeky, highbrow, highbrowed, intellectualist, intellectualistic, long-haired (or longhair), nerdish, nerdy

Antonyms: anti-intellectual, lowbrow, nonintellectual, philistine

Related Words: cultivated, cultured; middlebrow; erudite, learned, literate, polyhistoric, polymath (or polymathic), scholarly, well-read; academic (also academical), bookish, professorial; didactic, high-toned, hyperintellectual, pedantic; high-hat, snobbish, snobby, snooty; educated, schooled; brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, intelligent, quick-witted, smart

Near Antonyms: uncultivated, uncultured; ignorant, illiterate, uneducated, unlettered, unread; dumb, foolish, idiotic (also idiotical), moronic, slow, stupid, unintelligent; benighted, unenlightened

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Other Psychology Terms

fetish, hypochondria, intelligence, mania, narcissism, neurosis, pathological, psychosis, schadenfreude, subliminal