as in dumb
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily
you're not unintelligent, so you must just be stubbornly resisting all attempts to teach you something
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Recent Examples of unintelligent
But the gullible, easily-led and unintelligent — and the media — all fall for the lie.
—
Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 2 Nov. 2024
Both of these insults are based on racist stereotypes (the lazy trope and the unintelligent trope) that have been weaponized against Black people throughout history.
—Janice Gassam Asare, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024
In short: Wells assumed Neanderthals were unintelligent brutes.
—Byrd Pinkerton, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Participants hesitated almost three times as long to switch off an intelligent and agreeable robot (34.5 seconds) compared to an unintelligent and non agreeable robot (11.8 seconds).
—IEEE Spectrum, 31 Jan. 2013
See All Example Sentences for unintelligent
Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 2 Nov. 2024
Both of these insults are based on racist stereotypes (the lazy trope and the unintelligent trope) that have been weaponized against Black people throughout history.
—Janice Gassam Asare, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024
In short: Wells assumed Neanderthals were unintelligent brutes.
—Byrd Pinkerton, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Participants hesitated almost three times as long to switch off an intelligent and agreeable robot (34.5 seconds) compared to an unintelligent and non agreeable robot (11.8 seconds).
—IEEE Spectrum, 31 Jan. 2013
See All Example Sentences for unintelligent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unintelligent
Adjective
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Turning Labubu, originally a storybook character, into a beloved plush wasn’t exactly dumb luck, said Mark Tanner, managing director of consumer insights newsletter China Skinny.—
Ramishah Maruf,
CNN Money,
24 Aug. 2025
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So this is a fun way to disagree and agree about the dumbest things in the world.—
Andrew Marantz,
New Yorker,
24 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Jess: The curds themselves are crispy, but the toast is stupid.—
Jess Fleming,
Twin Cities,
22 Aug. 2025
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The delegate should be embarrassed to introduce such a stupid idea.—
Kevin Igoe,
Baltimore Sun,
11 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Parkinson’s disease primarily affects the nervous system, particularly the brain, causing tremors, stiffness, and slow movement.—
Zach LaChance,
The Washington Examiner,
1 Sep. 2025
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Alex Bowman falls three laps down after a slow pit stop.—
Shane Connuck,
Charlotte Observer,
1 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Business managers must make decisions ranging from simple tasks, such as ordering office supplies, to more complex matters like company layoffs.—
Mark LaSota,
Forbes.com,
31 Aug. 2025
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What fans see under the lights, however, wouldn’t look so simple without Zdon’s expansive amount of work behind the scenes.—
Steve Reaven,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Any suggestion that this is some kind of victory for Combs is ignorant.—
KiMi Robinson,
USA Today,
27 Aug. 2025
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In this case, the problem is ethics in the medical profession, as young doctor Andrew Manson (Robert Donat) moves from idealism to disillusionment and back again when faced with ignorant patients who are skeptical of his conclusions, economic hardship, and crooked colleagues.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
25 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Because of that, thick fire walls were installed throughout the plant's buildings.—
Eileen Falkenberg-Hull,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Sep. 2025
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The air was damp and listless and the heat was something to wade through, thick as molasses.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unintelligent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unintelligent. Accessed 5 Sep. 2025.
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