pseudo-intellectual
noun
disapproving
: a person who wants to be thought of as having a lot of intelligence and knowledge but who is not really intelligent or knowledgeable
Examples of pseudo-intellectual in a Sentence
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Now, The Devil, Probably resurfaces during the vogue for outward pathologies, hidden grotesquerie — and the pseudo-intellectual agnosticism of Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist.
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Armond White, National Review, 25 Sep. 2024
Celebrated by some as gospel and criticized by others as pseudo-intellectual, the split-personality meanderings of Pitt and his counterpart — played by the incredible Edward Norton — have endured the test of time and are quoted in the vein of films like The Godfather (1972) or Scarface (1983).
—Derek Scancarelli, EW.com, 18 Dec. 2023
The idea that the film critiques itself is pseudo-intellectual nonsense out of Brown University (Haynes’s alma mater).
—Armond White, National Review, 10 Jan. 2024
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Armond White, National Review, 25 Sep. 2024
Celebrated by some as gospel and criticized by others as pseudo-intellectual, the split-personality meanderings of Pitt and his counterpart — played by the incredible Edward Norton — have endured the test of time and are quoted in the vein of films like The Godfather (1972) or Scarface (1983).
—Derek Scancarelli, EW.com, 18 Dec. 2023
The idea that the film critiques itself is pseudo-intellectual nonsense out of Brown University (Haynes’s alma mater).
—Armond White, National Review, 10 Jan. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Pseudo-intellectual.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pseudo-intellectual. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
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