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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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

intellectual

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noun

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of intellectual
Adjective
The big picture: Fluoride in water became a hot topic recently after a federal judge in September ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate it over concerns that high levels could hurt the intellectual development of children. Alex Golden, Axios, 22 Jan. 2025 This realization galvanized Pham to launch IEC, which focuses on preparing clinicians to work with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), designing systems to meet diverse patient needs, and finding better ways to finance those services. Jennifer Jay Palumbo, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
Noun
But he was still regarded by ordinary Chinese—as well as intellectuals and young students—as the champion of China’s political democratization. Foreign Affairs, 1 Jan. 2025 Despite mobilization among French intellectuals, his future remains uncertain. Colette Davidson, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for intellectual 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for intellectual
Adjective
  • Jupiter retrograde in Gemini, on the other hand, brings an introspective twist to this cerebral high.
    Valerie Mesa, People.com, 3 Feb. 2025
  • High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) is a severe and rare altitude sickness.
    Cristina Mutchler, Verywell Health, 24 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Cornell University View 4 Images View gallery - 4 images Researchers at Cornell University have been working on batteries that can 'flow' through the internal structures of robots, kind of like how blood in humans' veins powers our bodies.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 30 Jan. 2025
  • Produced annually by the park’s internal teams, including some working entertainment industry members, on an active back lot using props from the largest collection in the industry, the highly immersive event has not only seen interest skyrocket in the last decade.
    Abbey White, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • This really looks like a Warhammer nerd's dream come true.
    Ian Stokes, Space.com, 29 Jan. 2025
  • Curitiba is a tidy, charming place known by transportation nerds for its pioneering bus system (passengers enter futuristic black tubes before getting on buses that speed along in dedicated lanes).
    Gary Shteyngart, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • By the end of the school year, Columbia had called the police on the protesters twice, including students who teamed up with activists to occupy an academic building.
    Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2025
  • Many nonprofit and academic studies blame it on the slashing of crucial federal social-aid and housing programs under Reagan’s watch, while others say the bigger problem is that government money meant for the poor gets sucked up in bureaucracy or badly diverted.
    Kevin Fagan, TIME, 4 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • With a nylon exterior, double-down seans, and a cotton inner lining, Adidas rain jackets are 100% waterproof and comfortable.
    BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 31 Jan. 2025
  • The dress has an inner lining to protect lines from showing through.
    Nicol Natale, People.com, 31 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • 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
  • Richie Grainge herself has evolved her stylistic approach from an ostentatious Los Angeleno verve into a look that’s more low-key highbrow.
    Nick Remsen, CNN, 13 Feb. 2024
Adjective
  • Hudson’s bandmates—the guitarist Robbie Robertson, the drummer Levon Helm, the bassist Rick Danko, and the pianist and multi-instrumentalist Richard Manuel—often described him as scholarly, nimble, and discerning, a professor type at loose in a scene dominated by beautiful buffoons.
    Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 24 Jan. 2025
  • Laymon said the suffrage monument on the Mall will draw on the diverse perspectives of its board and scholarly advisers, as well as the public.
    Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times, 20 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Williamson said earlier this week that his hamstring is completely healed, but his mental state remains a work in progress.
    oregonlive, oregonlive, 13 Apr. 2023
  • Sign up That Torrance pushed Vial and Eduardo to such mental anguish does not surprise immigrant-justice advocates.
    María Inés Taracena, The New Republic, 12 Apr. 2023

Thesaurus Entries Near intellectual

Cite this Entry

“Intellectual.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/intellectual. Accessed 10 Feb. 2025.

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