intelligent
Americanadjective
-
having good understanding or a high mental capacity; quick to comprehend, as persons or animals.
an intelligent student.
- Synonyms:
- bright
- Antonyms:
- stupid
-
displaying or characterized by quickness of understanding, sound thought, or good judgment.
an intelligent reply.
- Antonyms:
- stupid
-
having the faculty of reasoning and understanding; possessing intelligence.
intelligent beings in outer space.
-
Computers. pertaining to the ability to do data processing locally; smart.
An intelligent terminal can edit input before transmission to a host computer.
-
Archaic. having understanding or knowledge (usually followed byof ).
adjective
-
having or indicating intelligence
-
having high intelligence; clever
-
indicating high intelligence; perceptive
an intelligent guess
-
guided by reason; rational
-
(of computerized functions) able to modify action in the light of ongoing events
-
archaic having knowledge or information
they were intelligent of his whereabouts
Related Words
Intelligent, intellectual describe distinctive mental capacity. Intelligent often suggests a natural quickness of understanding: an intelligent reader. Intellectual implies not only having a high degree of understanding, but also a capacity and taste for the higher forms of knowledge: intellectual interests. See sharp.
Other Word Forms
- hyperintelligent adjective
- hyperintelligently adverb
- intelligently adverb
- nonintelligent adjective
- nonintelligently adverb
- preintelligent adjective
- preintelligently adverb
- quasi-intelligent adjective
- quasi-intelligently adverb
- semi-intelligent adjective
- semi-intelligently adverb
- superintelligent adjective
Etymology
Origin of intelligent
First recorded in 1500–10; from Latin intelligent- (stem of intelligēns, present participle of intelligere, variant of intellegere “to understand,” literally, “choose between),” equivalent to intel- (variant of inter- inter- ) + -lig- (combining form of leg-, stem of legere “to pick up, choose”; lection ) + -ent- -ent
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And they must seem intelligent without actually being enterprising enough to stand out from the crowd of near-identical films.
From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026
But if you thirst for a sober-minded investigation into this ominous tool — one with an approach that treats you like the intelligent being you are — you’ll have to wait for AI doc 2.0.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026
“It’s just really difficult to make any kind of intelligent decisions in that environment.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
"An intelligent student becomes an intelligent player. Ivo looked after what happened inside the white lines. Etienne, outside them. The family has always been very present and very clear-headed."
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026
An intelligent long shot, perhaps, but a long shot nonetheless.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
