intellectual

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of intellectual in English

English Online Dictionary. What means intellectual‎? What does intellectual mean?

English

From Old French intellectuel, from Latin intellectualis.

intellectual (comparative more intellectual, superlative most intellectual)

Pertaining to, or performed by, the intellect; mental or cognitive.
- 1920, Harold Monro, Preface to s:The year's at the spring; an anthology of recent poetry
  Pleasure is various, but it cannot exist where the emotions or the imagination have not been powerfully stirred. Whether it be called sensual or intellectual, pleasure cannot be willed
Endowed with intellect; having a keen sense of understanding; having the capacity for higher forms of knowledge or thought; characterized by intelligence or cleverness
Suitable for exercising one's intellect; perceived by the intellect
Relating to the understanding; treating of the mind.
(archaic, poetic) Spiritual.
- 1805, William Wordsworth, The Prelude, Book II, lines 331-334 (eds. Jonathan Wordsworth, M. H. Abrams, & Stephen Gill, published by W. W. Norton & Company, 1979):
  I deem not profitless those fleeting moods / Of shadowy exultation; not for this, / That they are kindred to our purer mind / And intellectual life […]

intellectual (plural intellectuals)

An intelligent, learned person, especially one who discourses about learned matters.
Synonyms: highbrow, academic, scholar

Coordinate terms: egghead, nerd, geek
(archaic) The intellect or understanding; mental powers or faculties.

“intellectual”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
"intellectual" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 169.