Nous Meaning
/naʊs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe mind or intellect, reason, both rational and emotional.
nounThe divine reason, regarded as first divine emanation.
Sentence Examples
Hair and nous don't fit in one head.
Our company brings those smaller brands more scale and more marketing nous.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He always solved the problem easily because he has plenty of ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He didn't have much formal education, but he certainly had plenty of common ____.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Ancient Greek νοῦς (noûs) or νόος (nóos, “mind”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I feel the will to roam, to learn
By test, experience, nous,
That fire is hot and ocean deep,
And wolves carnivorous."
— 1900, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, On the Disastrous Spread of Aestheticism in all Classes:
"There is nothing original in absent-mindedness. True originality lies elsewhere. Really, the lower classes have no nous."
— 1907 April, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, The Longest Journey, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, part I (Cambridge), page 13:
"The emerging African elite felt little affection for the wahindi, seen as tight-fisted, snooty and brazenly colour-conscious, but its members knew they needed its business nous."
— 2009, Michela Wrong, It’s Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle Blower:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He always solved the problem easily because he has plenty of ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He didn't have much formal education, but he certainly had plenty of common ____.