in·tel·lec·tu·al
ˌin-tə-ˈlek-chə-wəl 
-chəl,
-shwəl,
-chü(-ə)l
1
2
a
: given to study, reflection, and speculation
b
: engaged in activity requiring the creative use of the intellect
intellectual playwrights
1
: an intellectual person
2
intellectuals plural, archaic
: intellectual powers
Synonyms
Examples of intellectual in a Sentence
Adjective
the social and intellectual life of the campus
as the daughter of college professors, she's used to being around intellectual people
Noun
He thinks that he's an intellectual, but he doesn't know what he's talking about.
She's a hard worker but she's no great intellectual.
a café where artists and intellectuals mingle
Recent Examples on the Web
Anne Gelhaus, The Mercury News, 10 Nov. 2024
The aim, according to its course description, is to use her work as a lens through which to examine Black intellectual thought and activism.
—Angela Yang, NBC News, 10 Nov. 2024
Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2024
And one of the main things that happened during the Cultural Revolution was that certain classes of people — intellectuals, people with money, people with land — were sort of coaxed into, for the first time in their lives, telling the truth.
—Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 28 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for intellectual 
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Adjective
Based out of West Valley College in Saratoga, the College of Adaptive Arts is a nonprofit that provides college programs for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
—Anne Gelhaus, The Mercury News, 10 Nov. 2024
The aim, according to its course description, is to use her work as a lens through which to examine Black intellectual thought and activism.
—Angela Yang, NBC News, 10 Nov. 2024
Noun
In April 2024, less than a year after the school’s founding, more than 5,000 people, primarily students but also outraged intellectuals of different ages, immediately signed a petition against the school’s name.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2024
And one of the main things that happened during the Cultural Revolution was that certain classes of people — intellectuals, people with money, people with land — were sort of coaxed into, for the first time in their lives, telling the truth.
—Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 28 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for intellectual
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Dictionary Entries Near intellectual
Cite this Entry
“Intellectual.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectual. Accessed 17 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
intellectual
1 of 2 adjective
in·tel·lec·tu·al
ˌint-ᵊl-ˈek-ch(ə-w)əl
1
: relating to the intellect or understanding
2
: having intellect to a high degree : engaged in or given to learning and thinking
an intellectual person
3
: requiring study and thought
intellectual games
intellectual
2 of 2 noun
: an intellectual person
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