in·tel·lec·tu·al
ˌin-tə-ˈlek-chə-wəl 
-chəl,
-shwəl,
-chü(-ə)l
1
2
a
: given to study, reflection, and speculation
b
: engaged in activity requiring the creative use of the intellect
intellectual playwrights
1
: an intellectual person
2
intellectuals plural, archaic
: intellectual powers
Synonyms
Examples of intellectual in a Sentence
Adjective
the social and intellectual life of the campus
as the daughter of college professors, she's used to being around intellectual people
Noun
He thinks that he's an intellectual, but he doesn't know what he's talking about.
She's a hard worker but she's no great intellectual.
a café where artists and intellectuals mingle
Recent Examples on the Web
Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Staying competitive requires an ability to adapt to rapidly evolving business norms, a sense of exploration and intellectual curiosity, and the willingness to keep up-to-speed on the latest innovations.
—Ebony Flake, Essence, 5 Apr. 2024
By building a business that puts folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities behind the counter, Ratcliffe hopes to inspire local business owners to reframe their beliefs around employing workers with disabilities and, importantly, to consider the benefits of doing so.
—Kayleigh Ruller, Charlotte Observer, 4 Apr. 2024
Stevenson, a true intellectual brilliant at formal speechmaking, despised the new medium and disparaged it.
—TIME, 4 Apr. 2024
Someone with so limited a lexicon, and the lack of intellectual curiosity to accrue an adult vocabulary has no business in the White House.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2024
This is an intellectual and analytical challenge as much as anything else.
—Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 29 Mar. 2024
And people with intellectual and developmental disabilities face many barriers to the kind of basic self-care people with mild to moderate Covid or flu can maintain with relative ease.
—Andrew Pulrang, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Keplinger didn't have the common touch and might be seen as rather intellectual and privileged and aloof and out of touch.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 24 Mar. 2024
Katha Pollitt, The Atlantic, 25 Mar. 2024
But Oscar Schwartz’s fascinating Drift essay makes clear that that initial spate of discussion overlooked Isaacson’s own intellectual (d)evolution.
—Longreads, 15 Mar. 2024
For the rest of her life, Ross maintained (correctly) that Isherwood’s portrayal of her diminished her reputation as an activist and as an intellectual.
—Adrienne Miller, Vogue, 5 Mar. 2024
The small shop is an urban intellectual’s daydream: there’s ample space for literary speaking events; a few chessboard tables; a secret nook that serves as a children’s section, a tasteful cocktail bar with affordable drinks; small-plate entrées on the horizon.
—Shomik Mukherjee, The Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2024
This biopic features a middle-aged black intellectual (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) traveling the world to discover the source of America’s racial discontent.
—Armond White, National Review, 24 Jan. 2024
The idea that the extraordinary power of certain tech companies has led to a new world order has been written about by intellectuals and technologists across the globe.
—Paolo Confino, Fortune, 16 Mar. 2024
Feldman, a polymath and public intellectual at Harvard Law School, picks up more or less where Magid leaves off.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 15 Feb. 2024
An intellectual of his stature writing about the Warriors is like if Mark Twain worked a side gig as a Fangraphs contributor.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 3 Feb. 2024
Adjective
Seated on a bench next to a lot of intellectual loners—Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, David Souter, Ginsburg herself—Breyer became a consensus seeker, if not always a consensus builder.
—Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Staying competitive requires an ability to adapt to rapidly evolving business norms, a sense of exploration and intellectual curiosity, and the willingness to keep up-to-speed on the latest innovations.
—Ebony Flake, Essence, 5 Apr. 2024
By building a business that puts folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities behind the counter, Ratcliffe hopes to inspire local business owners to reframe their beliefs around employing workers with disabilities and, importantly, to consider the benefits of doing so.
—Kayleigh Ruller, Charlotte Observer, 4 Apr. 2024
Stevenson, a true intellectual brilliant at formal speechmaking, despised the new medium and disparaged it.
—TIME, 4 Apr. 2024
Someone with so limited a lexicon, and the lack of intellectual curiosity to accrue an adult vocabulary has no business in the White House.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2024
This is an intellectual and analytical challenge as much as anything else.
—Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 29 Mar. 2024
And people with intellectual and developmental disabilities face many barriers to the kind of basic self-care people with mild to moderate Covid or flu can maintain with relative ease.
—Andrew Pulrang, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Keplinger didn't have the common touch and might be seen as rather intellectual and privileged and aloof and out of touch.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 24 Mar. 2024
Noun
Judith Butler, for many years a professor of rhetoric and comparative literature at UC Berkeley, might be among the most influential intellectuals alive today.
—Katha Pollitt, The Atlantic, 25 Mar. 2024
But Oscar Schwartz’s fascinating Drift essay makes clear that that initial spate of discussion overlooked Isaacson’s own intellectual (d)evolution.
—Longreads, 15 Mar. 2024
For the rest of her life, Ross maintained (correctly) that Isherwood’s portrayal of her diminished her reputation as an activist and as an intellectual.
—Adrienne Miller, Vogue, 5 Mar. 2024
The small shop is an urban intellectual’s daydream: there’s ample space for literary speaking events; a few chessboard tables; a secret nook that serves as a children’s section, a tasteful cocktail bar with affordable drinks; small-plate entrées on the horizon.
—Shomik Mukherjee, The Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2024
This biopic features a middle-aged black intellectual (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) traveling the world to discover the source of America’s racial discontent.
—Armond White, National Review, 24 Jan. 2024
The idea that the extraordinary power of certain tech companies has led to a new world order has been written about by intellectuals and technologists across the globe.
—Paolo Confino, Fortune, 16 Mar. 2024
Feldman, a polymath and public intellectual at Harvard Law School, picks up more or less where Magid leaves off.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 15 Feb. 2024
An intellectual of his stature writing about the Warriors is like if Mark Twain worked a side gig as a Fangraphs contributor.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 3 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'intellectual.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Phrases Containing intellectual
Articles Related to intellectual
Dictionary Entries Near intellectual
Cite this Entry
“Intellectual.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectual. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
intellectual
1 of 2 adjective
in·tel·lec·tu·al
ˌint-ᵊl-ˈek-ch(ə-w)əl
1
: relating to the intellect or understanding
2
: having intellect to a high degree : engaged in or given to learning and thinking
an intellectual person
3
: requiring study and thought
intellectual games
intellectual
2 of 2 noun
: an intellectual person
More from Merriam-Webster on intellectual
Nglish: Translation of intellectual for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of intellectual for Arabic Speakers
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