as in nerds
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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Recent Examples of intellectuals
As Derya and Aziz’s hypocrisies, as upper-class intellectuals, are increasingly brought to the fore, Namal and Biçer’s conversational performances grow haggard and strained.
—
Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 13 Feb. 2026
Villainous weirdos like Bronze Age Pervert, Curtis Yarvin, or Jack Donovan who populate the ranks of far-right intellectuals are obsessed with their own fabulism about antiquity, reminding one of the murderous gaggle of privileged college kids in Donna Tart’s 1993 campus novel The Secret History.
—Literary Hub, 10 Feb. 2026
But the reality is that this transformation is the culmination of years of work by niche groups of conservative intellectuals who have long rejected America’s liberal traditions—and now dominate the halls of power.
—Laura K. Field, The Atlantic, 5 Feb. 2026
For four hours, the group of artists and intellectuals – many of whom had not seen each other in fifty years – reminisced, critiqued, argued, laughed and drank while wrestling with their place in a rapidly shifting cultural landscape.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 5 Feb. 2026
Institutions like the Encyclopædia Britannica speak to the spirit that helped create an environment where intellectuals like them could flourish.
—The New Yorker, New Yorker, 4 Feb. 2026
Subsequently, the loss of rights suffered by a wide range of Iranians—Baha'is, gays, feminists, dissenting intellectuals, and young people with non-ideological dreams—became a widespread loss of identity.
—Ramin Jahanbegloo, Time, 3 Feb. 2026
More than five hundred writers and intellectuals, including Sally Rooney, Rashid Khalidi, and Greta Thunberg, announced a boycott of the New York Times’s opinion section on account of its coverage of the war on Gaza.
—Sean Williams, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Watching all of these intellectuals reconnect, spar about their legacies, and continue to debate the very ideas that brought them together in the first place is a treat for scholars and history buffs.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 26 Jan. 2026
Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 13 Feb. 2026
Villainous weirdos like Bronze Age Pervert, Curtis Yarvin, or Jack Donovan who populate the ranks of far-right intellectuals are obsessed with their own fabulism about antiquity, reminding one of the murderous gaggle of privileged college kids in Donna Tart’s 1993 campus novel The Secret History.
—Literary Hub, 10 Feb. 2026
But the reality is that this transformation is the culmination of years of work by niche groups of conservative intellectuals who have long rejected America’s liberal traditions—and now dominate the halls of power.
—Laura K. Field, The Atlantic, 5 Feb. 2026
For four hours, the group of artists and intellectuals – many of whom had not seen each other in fifty years – reminisced, critiqued, argued, laughed and drank while wrestling with their place in a rapidly shifting cultural landscape.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 5 Feb. 2026
Institutions like the Encyclopædia Britannica speak to the spirit that helped create an environment where intellectuals like them could flourish.
—The New Yorker, New Yorker, 4 Feb. 2026
Subsequently, the loss of rights suffered by a wide range of Iranians—Baha'is, gays, feminists, dissenting intellectuals, and young people with non-ideological dreams—became a widespread loss of identity.
—Ramin Jahanbegloo, Time, 3 Feb. 2026
More than five hundred writers and intellectuals, including Sally Rooney, Rashid Khalidi, and Greta Thunberg, announced a boycott of the New York Times’s opinion section on account of its coverage of the war on Gaza.
—Sean Williams, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Watching all of these intellectuals reconnect, spar about their legacies, and continue to debate the very ideas that brought them together in the first place is a treat for scholars and history buffs.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 26 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for intellectuals
Noun
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Perhaps the most famous home in Los Angeles, The Stahl House, designed by modernist master Pierre Koenig, has inspired countless architecture nerds.—
Hadley Meares,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Advertisement Especially for comedy nerds, the behind-the-scenes anecdotes about working with legends like Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder might be familiar.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Their designers are a bunch of obsessive geeks, in the best way possible, who take pride in producing designs no one else can touch.—
Jakob Schiller,
Outside,
16 Feb. 2026
-
The stamp of the vaunted independent hip-hop label—which has built a reputation among its community of fanatical diehards and like-minded rap geeks for its lyric-forward, anti-commercial approach—can bring new eyes to a rapper overnight.—
Alphonse Pierre,
Pitchfork,
30 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Intellectuals.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/intellectuals. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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