Word
intellectual
Phoneticsin·tel·lec·tu·al
US/ˌɪnəˈɫɛktʃuəɫ/
UK/ˌɪntəlˈɛktʃuːəl/
Definitions
01related to the mind
adj. related to your ability to think, understand, and learn rather than your feelings or physical skills.
adj. relating to the intellect or the cognitive processes of the mind, often contrasted with emotional or physical experience.
“The child showed great intellectual curiosity and was always asking how things worked.”
“The professor argued that the student's intellectual development was far more significant than their performance on standardized tests.”
02requiring deep thought
adj. describing something that needs serious thought or study to understand.
adj. appealing to or requiring the use of the intellect; characterized by a high level of complexity or abstraction.
“They spent the evening having an intellectual discussion about history and politics.”
“The documentary provides an intellectual challenge to the audience, forcing them to reconsider their assumptions about modern economics.”
03a person
n. a person who spends a lot of time thinking about complicated ideas and academic subjects.
n. a person who engages in critical study, thought, and reflection about the reality of society.
“The city was a meeting place for artists and intellectuals during the 1920s.”
“Public intellectuals often play a crucial role in shaping national discourse by translating complex academic theories into accessible social critiques.”
Formal
Real-World Examples
“People living with severe intellectual disabilities are dying 24 years younger on average than the wider population, a study has found, with 40% of such deaths being avoidable.” “This study is interesting from an intellectual perspective, but the researchers also show that it might be useful.” “The NCAA has a long history of opposing college athletes profiting from their intellectual property.” Etymology
From Old French intellectuel, from Latin intellectualis.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collocations
Word family
Idioms
public intellectual — A well-known, intelligent, learned person whose written works and other social and cultural contributions are recognized not only by academic audiences and readers, but also by many members of society in general.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/intellectual