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intellectual

intellectual

92 6.0
A person who thinks deeply about ideas, art, or science
  • noun
  • /ˌɪntəˈlɛktʃuəl/
: intelectual
  • Dunlop is one of those eccentric intellectuals quite common right now.
  • public intellectuals
  • artists and intellectuals
  • scholars and intellectuals

And so I think most intellectuals are just naturally broad.

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Examples

  • People thought of him in international terms, as an intellectual who had been to Russia.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Punk music was invented by the intellectuals of the Situationist International.

  • So Cambridge was the intellectual centre of his life.

  • We, we want to attract the best intellectual talents to this institution.

  • You are one of my dearest friends and intellectual mentors.

  • So for that generation of black intellectuals, Howard was the pinnacle.

  • He's one of our foremost intellectuals, he is a personal friend...

  • Well, Durkheim joined other prominent French intellectuals to protest the trial.

  • His wife had met Celestine's father, Vincent Ertel, the French ex-Maoist intellectual, in Paris.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • As an intellectual, she dedicated her life to research and teaching at the university.

Synonyms

scholar
vsintellectual
290 4.1

A person with deep knowledge who studies a subject carefully for many years

is broader, covering creative and general academic interest beyond one field
thinker
vsintellectual
126 3.8

A person who has deep ideas about important subjects

is focused more on academic interest and study than only deep thought
intellect
vsintellectual
7 6.0

A person who thinks clearly and deeply about ideas and problems

is more about using creative and academic thought than just mental capacity
intellectualist
vsintellectual
1 7.7

A person who likes to study ideas and join serious debates

is defined more by personal mental ability and interest than by valuing debate

Antonyms

ignoramus
  • Offensive
15 8.3

A person who does not know much

dullard
  • Offensive
5 7.8

A person who is slow to understand things

Compounds

intellectual property
  • Specialized
53 4.6

Rights that protect things people create, like inventions, books, or logos

A scholar or writer who shares ideas and arguments with the public

A person who dislikes learning and thinking

Something that gives your mind new ideas and keeps you thinking

A well-known person who writes or speaks about important public issues

1 9.9

Long, pointless thinking or talking that only shows off knowledge

How Intellectual

scholar
290 4.1
intellectual
92 6.0
thinker
126 3.8
layperson
10 4.9

Surface Forms

intellectual singular
intellectuals plural

Morphology

intellectual = intellectual (transparent) = intellect + ual

The noun is formed by conversion from the adjective 'intellectual', whose meaning is directly based on 'intellect' + '-ual'.

Etymology

Intellectual as a person comes from the Latin intellectus and intelligere, meaning 'to understand', and it shares the root with intelligent. So an intellectual is someone who uses their mind a lot—a thinker or a person who studies and talks about ideas.