Synonyms of intellectual

intellectual 1 of 2

adjective

ˌin-tə-ˈlek-chə-wəl 

1

as in cerebral

much given to learning and thinking

as the daughter of college professors, she's used to being around intellectual people

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cerebral
• academic
• scholarly
• intellectualistic
• highbrow
• intellectualist
• cultured
• nerdy
• intelligent
• literate
• geeky
• educated
• blue
• nerdish
• long-haired
• eggheaded
• cultivated
• highbrowed
• brilliant
• clever
• erudite
• professorial
• bookish
• smart
• learned
• didactic
• schooled
• pedantic
• snobbish
• well-read
• brainy
• snooty
• high-toned
• snobby
• polymath
• quick-witted
• bright
• hyperintellectual
• polyhistoric
• high-hat

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• nonintellectual
• lowbrow
• ignorant
• uncultured
• uncultivated
• uneducated
• anti-intellectual
• illiterate
• philistine
• dumb
• stupid
• idiotic
• foolish
• slow
• unlettered
• unintelligent
• unread
• moronic
• unenlightened
• benighted

2

as in mental

of or relating to the mind

intellectual pursuits such as reading and studying

Synonyms & Similar Words

• mental
• internal
• inner
• interior
• psychological
• cerebral
• cognitive
• conscious
• epistemic
• knowing
• psychic
• thinking
• rational
• reasoning
• intelligent
• noetic
• brilliant
• brainy
• telepathic
• clever
• smart
• quick-witted
• alert
• sharp-witted
• bright
• sharp

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• physical
• somatic
• corporeal
• nonmental
• carnal
• bodily
• corporal
• fleshly
• unconscious
• stupid
• dense
• unintelligent
• mindless
• fatuous
• simple
• obtuse
• witless
• thick
• dopey
• doltish
• brainless
• weak-minded
• thickheaded
• slow-witted
• half-witted

3

as in educational

of or relating to schooling or learning especially at an advanced level

research that shows that people from very intellectual backgrounds are happiest with spouses having comparable educations

Synonyms & Similar Words

• educational
• academic
• scholarly
• scholastic
• educative
• collegiate
• pedagogical
• professorial
• bookish
• curricular
• nerdy
• pedantic
• geeky
• instructive
• donnish
• nerdish
• tweedy
• postgraduate
• graduate

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• nonacademic
• extracurricular
• noneducational
• unscholarly
• cocurricular
• unacademic
• noncollegiate

intellectual

2 of 2

noun

as in nerd

a person with strong intellectual interests

discovered that in politics a reputation for being an intellectual was regarded as a liability

Synonyms & Similar Words

• nerd
• highbrow
• intellectualist
• geek
• intellect
• blue
• intellectualizer
• double-dome
• longhair
• wizard
• bluestocking
• sage
• Brahmin
• thinker
• mandarin
• brain
• genius
• pseud
• whiz

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• philistine
• lowbrow
• anti-intellectual
• imbecile
• dope
• moron
• dummy
• dunce
• simpleton
• dolt
• blockhead
• pinhead
• dumbbell
• nitwit
• fathead
• half-wit

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of intellectual

Adjective

Supporting someone with an intellectual or developmental disability through home- and community-based services costs about $70,500 per year, versus more than $395,000 annually in a public institution. — Barbara Merrill, Time, 11 Aug. 2026

The Creative Campus in Plainfield hopes to reimagine this cultural and intellectual life that Goddard College once brought. — Olivia Fletcher, Christian Science Monitor, 11 Aug. 2026

Noun

This tradition of forceful anti-American sentiment among European intellectuals went into steep decline after the abrupt end of the Cold War in the late Eighties. — Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 28 July 2026

Katherine Kelaidis argues that figures such as Heather Cox Richardson, Jill Lepore, Joanne Freeman, Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Kevin Kruse have become a new class of liberal public intellectuals, translating the past into political commentary. — Literary Hub, 23 July 2026