1
as in cerebral
much given to learning and thinking
as the daughter of college professors, she's used to being around intellectual people
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in internal
of or relating to the mind
intellectual pursuits such as reading and studying
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in educational
of or relating to schooling or learning especially at an advanced level
research that shows that people from very intellectual backgrounds are happiest with spouses having comparable educations
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in nerd
a person with strong intellectual interests
discovered that in politics a reputation for being an intellectual was regarded as a liability
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of intellectual
Ingrid Vasquez, People.com, 23 Apr. 2025
Read: An unabashedly intellectual murder mystery In both novels, the artists eventually do solve their mysteries, but largely through the interference of others rather than their own genius.
—Talya Zax, The Atlantic, 23 Apr. 2025
Jeffrey Seller, Vulture, 11 Apr. 2025
In 1799, Davy expanded his experiments to include intellectuals, philosophers and poets, like Robert Southey and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in what became known as the nitrous oxide trials.
—Ella Jeffries, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for intellectual
Adjective
The Special Olympics were founded in 1968 by family matriarch Eunice Kennedy Shriver as a nod to her sister Rosemary Kennedy, who was born with intellectual challenges.
—Ingrid Vasquez, People.com, 23 Apr. 2025
Read: An unabashedly intellectual murder mystery In both novels, the artists eventually do solve their mysteries, but largely through the interference of others rather than their own genius.
—Talya Zax, The Atlantic, 23 Apr. 2025
Noun
One is blond, hair almost white, wears wire glasses, and exudes the presence of a bohemian intellectual.
—Jeffrey Seller, Vulture, 11 Apr. 2025
In 1799, Davy expanded his experiments to include intellectuals, philosophers and poets, like Robert Southey and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in what became known as the nitrous oxide trials.
—Ella Jeffries, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for intellectual
Recent Examples of Synonyms for intellectual
Adjective
-
Our cerebral circuitry changes constantly—every day, new links are made amongst the 86 billion individual neurons in our heads, and old connections are allowed to fall away.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
17 Apr. 2025
-
While athleticism doesn’t hurt, the cerebral nature of safety shows minimal correlation between extreme athleticism and success at the next level.—
Paul Dehner Jr.,
New York Times,
14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
In New York, DOJ lawyers accidentally revealed an internal document acknowledging the shortcomings in their plan to kill congestion pricing.—
Peter Charalambous,
ABC News,
24 Apr. 2025
-
Your bottom line will look robust, but no internal deception goes unpublished.—
Rob Davis,
Forbes.com,
24 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Take it from a film critic: Even gawky beta nerds get smothered by their own internalized masculinity.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
10 Apr. 2025
-
Wednesday night gives us a grudge match worth watching, and a sliding-doors moment to bask in and nerd out.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Yemane’s academic ambitions led him to study architecture, earning both undergraduate and master’s degrees.—
William Jones,
USA Today,
19 Apr. 2025
-
The law says funds must go to traditional academic expenses like private school tuition or homeschool curricula and textbooks, plus a few other costs like transportation.—
Audrey Dutton,
ProPublica,
18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Your quiet inner knowing is on its way to becoming a steady source of helpful wisdom.—
Colin Bedell,
Them.,
25 Apr. 2025
-
Its design has changed little since then, still incorporating an inner surface that sits at a 60- to 90-degree angle relative to the user's urine stream.—
Ben Coxworth,
New Atlas,
25 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Deadline asks the Festival chief whether Series Mania is focused on the highbrow of the drama spectrum.—
Stewart Clarke,
Deadline,
6 Mar. 2025
-
Wagner would be a sleepless highbrow’s favorite; the long, lush, unbroken lines of music share with the white-noise hum of the air-conditioner or the thrum of the painstaking lecture the quality of being absorbing without offering undue eventfulness.—
Adam Gopnik,
The New Yorker,
20 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Pedagogies Asking Scholarly Questions with JSTOR Daily Help students develop analytic and scholarly questioning skills using a quick activity built on JSTOR Daily roundups and syllabi.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
21 Apr. 2025
-
Here are four ways that scholars can broaden the impact of scholarly research at this particularly moment in time.—
Marshall Shepherd,
Forbes.com,
19 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
This definition also includes instance in which the victim is incapable of giving consent because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity (include due to the influence of drugs or alcohol) or because of age.—
Baltimore Sun staff,
Baltimore Sun,
11 Apr. 2025
-
The World Health Organization defines burnout as an occupational phenomenon which is characterized by feelings of energy depletion, increased mental distance from one's job, and reduced professional efficacy.—
Daniel R. Depetris,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Intellectual.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/intellectual. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share