1
as in cerebral
much given to learning and thinking
as the daughter of college professors, she's used to being around intellectual people
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in mental
of or relating to the mind
intellectual pursuits such as reading and studying
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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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in nerd
a person with strong intellectual interests
discovered that in politics a reputation for being an intellectual was regarded as a liability
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of intellectual
Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 10 Mar. 2026
In fact, his manuscript is also about his fantasies—in this case, fantasies about a young man who has a meaningful, intellectual, tender affair with his older mentor.
—Meg Walters, Glamour, 9 Mar. 2026
Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 5 Mar. 2026
While the game remained popular among the elite its ornate imagery also continued to fascinate artists and intellectuals, laying the groundwork for symbolic interpretations.
—Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for intellectual
Adjective
Higher education is supposed to have people who don’t bury their heads in the sand because an intellectual challenge is difficult.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 10 Mar. 2026
In fact, his manuscript is also about his fantasies—in this case, fantasies about a young man who has a meaningful, intellectual, tender affair with his older mentor.
—Meg Walters, Glamour, 9 Mar. 2026
Noun
More to Explore In this environment, some activists and intellectuals adopted bikes as part of a resistance to car-centric capitalist modernism.
—Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 5 Mar. 2026
While the game remained popular among the elite its ornate imagery also continued to fascinate artists and intellectuals, laying the groundwork for symbolic interpretations.
—Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for intellectual
Recent Examples of Synonyms for intellectual
Adjective
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Quiet reflection gains power as cerebral Mercury in your 12th House of Solitude trines jovial Jupiter in your comforting 4th house, guiding you through releasing past aches.—
Tarot.com,
The Orlando Sentinel,
9 Mar. 2026
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The cerebral left-hander started 2025 outside the top 100, one more gifted teen pushing through the crowded gateway of the men’s tour.—
Douglas Robson,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Hasslers were also associated with multiple adverse mental and physical health outcomes like depression, anxiety and higher body mass index.—
Sara Moniuszko,
USA Today,
9 Mar. 2026
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The Van Gogh attribution, for instance, was subsequently matched by more conventional research, including technical analyses and studies of the artist’s letters (museum experts concluded that the portrait’s unusually dampened colors simply reflected Van Gogh’s troubled mental state at the time).—
Oscar Holland,
CNN Money,
9 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The hotel is also collaborating with government technical schools to develop a training program, contributing to educational advancement and offering a career path to residents.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 Mar. 2026
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From the early days of the Waterbury Extension Center to today’s vibrant downtown campus, UConn has been part of that community’s educational and economic growth.—
Radenka Maric,
Hartford Courant,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Fortunately for Rake, he got paired with a true research nerd.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
8 Mar. 2026
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Computer nerds who’ve never left their basements and mama’s cooking are trying, and have taken over the sport with useless numbers, or analytics.—
Nick Canepa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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For professionals who work with contracts, reports, invoices, or academic documents, PDF Agile consolidates essential PDF functions into a single lifetime license without ongoing subscription fees.—
StackCommerce Team,
PC Magazine,
9 Mar. 2026
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They are left scarred and live on quietly together as their academic careers fall apart.—
Meg Walters,
Glamour,
9 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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But in 2017, an internal audit found that 1 in 5 high school students and 1 in 4 elementary school students said they had been bullied in the last school year.—
Ruben Vives,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Mar. 2026
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The network aggressively defended itself against the defamation lawsuit in New York -- arguing that the company was facing imminent collapse over its own internal misconduct, not because of any negative coverage.—
JOSHUA GOODMAN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,
Arkansas Online,
11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Leslie Hairston, a former City Council colleague of Preckwinkle’s whose South Side ward abutted hers, said Preckwinkle’s scholarly disposition shouldn’t be mistaken for indifference.—
A.D. Quig,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Mar. 2026
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Specifically, the study found the PATM patients emitted more petrochemicals, organosulfur compounds, and some aldehydes (including 39 times the normal amount of toluene, a chemical found in crude oil), among other distinctions—findings published in the scholarly journal Scientific Reports in 2023.—
Caroline Tien,
SELF,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Deadline asks the Festival chief whether Series Mania is focused on the highbrow of the drama spectrum.—
Stewart Clarke,
Deadline,
6 Mar. 2025
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Wagner would be a sleepless highbrow’s favorite; the long, lush, unbroken lines of music share with the white-noise hum of the air-conditioner or the thrum of the painstaking lecture the quality of being absorbing without offering undue eventfulness.—
Adam Gopnik,
The New Yorker,
20 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Intellectual.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/intellectual. Accessed 16 Mar. 2026.
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