Definitions for intellectual
ˌɪn tlˈɛk tʃu əlin·tel·lec·tu·al

Princeton's WordNet(2.43 / 7 votes)Rate this definition:

1. intellectual, intellect(adj)

   a person who uses the mind creatively

2. intellectual, rational, noetic(adj)

   of or associated with or requiring the use of the mind

   "intellectual problems"; "the triumph of the rational over the animal side of man"

3. intellectual(adj)

   appealing to or using the intellect

   "satire is an intellectual weapon"; "intellectual workers engaged in creative literary or artistic or scientific labor"; "has tremendous intellectual sympathy for oppressed people"; "coldly intellectual"; "sort of the intellectual type"; "intellectual literature"

4. cerebral, intellectual(adj)

   involving intelligence rather than emotions or instinct

   "a cerebral approach to the problem"; "cerebral drama"

GCIDE(4.19 / 11 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Intellectual(n.)

   A learned person or one of high intelligence; especially, one who places greatest value on activities requiring exercise of the intelligence, such as study, complex forms of knowledge, literature and aesthetic matters, reflection and philosophical speculation; a member of the intelligentsia; as, intellectuals are often apalled at the inanities that pass for entertainment on television.

Wiktionary(2.50 / 4 votes)Rate this definition:

1. intellectual(Noun)

   An intelligent person, someone interested in intellectual matters.

2. intellectual(Noun)

   The intellect or understanding; mental powers or faculties.

3. intellectual(Adjective)

   Belonging to, or performed by, the intellect; mental; as, intellectual powers, activities, etc.

4. intellectual(Adjective)

   Endowed with intellect; having the power of understanding; having capacity for the higher forms of knowledge or thought; characterized by intelligence or mental capacity; as, an intellectual person.

5. intellectual(Adjective)

   Suitable for exercising the intellect; formed by, and existing for, the intellect alone; perceived by the intellect; as, intellectual employments.

6. intellectual(Adjective)

   Relating to the understanding; treating of the mind; as, intellectual philosophy, sometimes called "mental" philosophy.

Webster Dictionary(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Intellectual(adj)

   belonging to, or performed by, the intellect; mental; as, intellectual powers, activities, etc

   Etymology: [L. intellectualis: cf. F. intellectuel.]

2. Intellectual(adj)

   endowed with intellect; having the power of understanding; having capacity for the higher forms of knowledge or thought; characterized by intelligence or mental capacity; as, an intellectual person

   Etymology: [L. intellectualis: cf. F. intellectuel.]

3. Intellectual(adj)

   suitable for exercising the intellect; formed by, and existing for, the intellect alone; perceived by the intellect; as, intellectual employments

   Etymology: [L. intellectualis: cf. F. intellectuel.]

4. Intellectual(adj)

   relating to the understanding; treating of the mind; as, intellectual philosophy, sometimes called "mental" philosophy

   Etymology: [L. intellectualis: cf. F. intellectuel.]

5. Intellectual(noun)

   the intellect or understanding; mental powers or faculties

   Etymology: [L. intellectualis: cf. F. intellectuel.]

Freebase(3.00 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Intellectual

   An intellectual is a person who primarily uses intelligence in either a professional or an individual capacity. As a substantive or adjective, it refers to the work product of such persons, to the so-called "life of the mind" generally, or to an aspect of something where learning, erudition, and informed and critical thinking are the focus, as in "the intellectual level of the discourse on the matter was not high". The intellectual is a specific variety of the intelligent, which unlike the general property, is strictly associated with reason and thinking. Many everyday roles require the application of intelligence to skills that may have a psychomotor component, for example, in the fields of medicine, sport or the arts, but these do not necessarily involve the practitioner in the "world of ideas". The distinctive quality of the intellectual person is that the mental skills, which he or she demonstrates, are not simply intelligent, but even more, they focus on thinking about the abstract, philosophical and esoteric aspects of human inquiry and the value of their thinking. Traditionally, the scholarly and the intellectual classes were closely identified; however, while intellectuals need not necessarily be actively involved in scholarship, they often have an academic background and will typically have an association with a profession.

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. intellectual

   A person who is smart and enjoys serious study and thought.

   That person is a real intellectual.

   Submitted by JP03 on February 5, 2015  

2. intellectual

   To use the mind and intelligence to create.

   The computer programmers are intellectual human beings.

   Submitted by MaryC on April 3, 2020  

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'intellectual' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3726

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'intellectual' in Nouns Frequency: #2738

3. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'intellectual' in Adjectives Frequency: #500

How to pronounce intellectual?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say intellectual in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of intellectual in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of intellectual in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of intellectual in a Sentence

1. Sydney Harris:

   The three hardest tasks in the world are neither physical feats nor intellectual achievements, but moral acts to return love for hate, to include the excluded, and to say, I was wrong.

2. Giuseppe Mazzini:

   Love and respect woman. Look to her not only for comfort, but for strength and inspiration and the doubling of your intellectual and moral powers. Blot out from your mind any idea of superiority you have none.

3. Mary Shelley:

   Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose- a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.

4. Barack Obama:

   It's this intellectual arrogance that now you can’t even have a conversation about it. The climate is changing, and we need to adapt to that reality.

5. John Cornyn:

   China has been stealing as much intellectual property as it can and otherwise trying to compromise America's lead when it comes to innovation and technology of our national security technology in particular.

Images & Illustrations of intellectual

Popularity rank by frequency of use