intelligent

[ in-tel-i-juhnt ]

adjective

1. having good understanding or a high mental capacity; quick to comprehend, as persons or animals:

   an intelligent student.

   Synonyms: bright

   Antonyms: stupid

2. displaying or characterized by quickness of understanding, sound thought, or good judgment:

   an intelligent reply.

   Synonyms: smart, shrewd, discerning, apt, bright, alert, clever, astute

   Antonyms: stupid

3. having the faculty of reasoning and understanding; possessing intelligence:

   intelligent beings in outer space.

4. Computers. pertaining to the ability to do data processing locally; smart: Compare dumb ( def 8 ).

   An intelligent terminal can edit input before transmission to a host computer.

5. Archaic. having understanding or knowledge (usually followed by of ).

intelligent

/ ɪnˈtɛlɪdʒənt /

adjective

1. having or indicating intelligence
2. having high intelligence; clever
3. indicating high intelligence; perceptive

   an intelligent guess

4. guided by reason; rational
5. (of computerized functions) able to modify action in the light of ongoing events
6. archaic.
   postpositivefoll byof having knowledge or information

   they were intelligent of his whereabouts

Derived Forms

• inˈtelligently, adverb

Other Words From

• in·telli·gent·ly adverb
• hyper·in·telli·gent adjective
• hyper·in·telli·gent·ly adverb
• nonin·telli·gent adjective
• nonin·telli·gent·ly adverb
• prein·telli·gent adjective
• prein·telli·gent·ly adverb
• quasi-in·telli·gent adjective
• quasi-in·telli·gent·ly adverb
• semi-in·telli·gent adjective
• semi-in·telli·gent·ly adverb
• super·in·telli·gent adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of intelligent¹

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

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

“Merciless,” like its predecessors, is full of sound and fury, signifying much that Ice finds wrong with the world, his evenhanded, intelligent opinions writ loudly, if graphically.

From Los Angeles Times

Just remember: “Evolution does not necessarily reward intelligence. With no natural predators to thin the herd, it began to simply reward those who reproduced the most, and left the intelligent to become an endangered species.”

From Salon

She continued to call Oliver “an undoubtedly intelligent person spouts absolute bull***t to support something he wants to be true, but isn’t.”

From Salon

Turns out that the alluring woman gracing the book’s cover is the same one who appears in these pages: intelligent, sensitive and engaging.

From Los Angeles Times

Why otherwise intelligent people, including political leaders and finance professionals, swallowed his spiel whole is the enduring mystery about Bankman-Fried and crypto.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• astute
• brainy
• bright
• brilliant
• creative
• imaginative
• inventive
• knowledgeable
• original
• perceptive
• rational
• resourceful
• smart
• well-informed
• wise