Intellectual Meaning
/ˌɪntəˈlɛkt͡ʃʊəl/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjPertaining to, or performed by, the intellect; mental or cognitive.
adjEndowed with intellect; having a keen sense of understanding; having the capacity for higher forms of knowledge or thought; characterized by intelligence or cleverness
Sentence Examples
Chess is a highly intellectual game.
Everyone has his intellectual desire.
He was a leading intellectual of his day.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The university is known for its ____ environment that encourages deep thinking.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The university provides a stimulating ____ environment where students can explore new and exciting ideas.
Word Origin & History
From Old French intellectuel, from Latin intellectualis.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Indeed, this discovery of meaning in symbols may be the most astounding intellectual feat that any human being ever performs—and most humans perform it before they are seven years old!"
— 1972, Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 25:
"The Fenimore Cooper Indian is no doubt a brave and highly intellectual person, educated abroad, refined and cultivated by foreign travel, graceful in the grub dance or scalp walk-around, yet tender-hearted as a girl, walking by night fifty-seven miles in a single evening to warn his white friends of danger."
— 1894, Edgar Wilson Nye, “Chapter 30”, in Nye's History of the USA:
"A good deal of nonsense is written about sport and entertainment. Many of us can, with pleasant ease, suspend a severely intellectual task for a few hours to witness a first-class football match."
— 1916, Joseph McCabe, “Chapter IX”, in The Tyranny of Shams:
"It should be noted that there is now no intelligentsia that is not in some sense "Left". Perhaps the last right-wing intellectual was T. E. Lawrence. Since about 1930 everyone describable as an “intellectual” has lived in a state of chronic discontent with the existing order."
— 1941, George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn:
"‘You know I hate intellectuals.’
‘You mean you hate people who are cleverer than you are.’
‘Yes. I suppose that’s why I like you so much, Tom.’"
— 1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 14:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The university is known for its ____ environment that encourages deep thinking.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The university provides a stimulating ____ environment where students can explore new and exciting ideas.