intellectualize

verb

in·​tel·​lec·​tu·​al·​ize ˌin-tə-ˈlek-chə-wə-ˌlīz How to pronounce intellectualize (audio)
-chə-ˌlīz,
-shwə-ˌlīz,
-chü(-ə)-ˌlīz
intellectualized; intellectualizing

transitive verb

: to give rational form or content to
intellectualization
ˌin-tə-ˌlek-chə-wə-lə-ˈzā-shən How to pronounce intellectualize (audio)
-chə-lə-
-shwə-lə-
-chü(-ə)-lə-
noun
intellectualizer
ˌin-tə-ˈlek-chə-wə-ˌlī-zər How to pronounce intellectualize (audio)
-chə-ˌlī-
-shwə-ˌlī-
-chü(-ə)-ˌlī-
noun

Examples of intellectualize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web There are some things that cannot be intellectualized, and indeed the attempt to do so cheapens them. Nicholas Gallagher, Washington Examiner, 12 Jan. 2024 Levi doesn’t intellectualize it like that, doesn’t have a straightforward intention. Tim Greiving, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2023 The source coding practice is best for people who overthink and intellectualize problems instead of finding a solution. Dominique Fluker, Essence, 18 July 2023 That somatic return is a common theme in trauma psychology, which suggests that lasting stressors will lead people to intellectualize and lose touch with physicality. Courtney Tenz, Washington Post, 29 June 2023 To critics, these are sham attempts to intellectualize an approach that has all the subtlety of self-immolation (which, incidentally, is how his character dies in Between Worlds, while smoking a cigarette, no less). Dan Piepenbring, Harper’s Magazine , 18 Jan. 2022 It’s been scarily easy, over the past year, to wriggle out of remembrances, to intellectualize and downplay my grief, to distract myself with a million more pertinent news stories. Steven Blum, Wired, 25 Aug. 2021 There’s no need to always over-intellectualize things. Vulture, 17 Feb. 2022 To over intellectualize the outburst would be futile, because that’s just Doja. Marjon Carlos, ELLE, 25 May 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'intellectualize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1792, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of intellectualize was circa 1792

Dictionary Entries Near intellectualize

Cite this Entry

“Intellectualize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectualize. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Medical Definition

intellectualize

transitive verb
in·​tel·​lec·​tu·​al·​ize
variants or chiefly British intellectualise
intellectualized or chiefly British intellectualised; intellectualizing or chiefly British intellectualising
1
: to give rational form or content to
2
: to avoid conscious recognition of the emotional basis of (an act or feeling) by substituting a superficially plausible explanation
conflicts that are intellectualizedL. E. Hinsie
intellectualization noun
or chiefly British intellectualisation
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