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INTELLECTUAL
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A person who uses the mind creatively
Synonyms:
intellect; intellectual
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("intellectual" is a kind of...):
individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "intellectual"):
wonderer (someone who is curious about something)
illusionist; seer; visionary (a person with unusual powers of foresight)
thinker (someone who exercises the mind (usually in an effort to reach a decision))
creative thinker; mind; thinker (an important intellectual)
idealogue; theoretician; theoriser; theorist; theorizer (someone who theorizes (especially in science or art))
synthesiser; synthesist; synthesizer (an intellectual who synthesizes or uses synthetic methods)
subjectivist (a person who subscribes to subjectivism)
specifier (someone who draws up specifications giving details (as for obtaining a patent))
doubter; sceptic; skeptic (someone who habitually doubts accepted beliefs)
bookman; scholar; scholarly person; student (a learned person (especially in the humanities); someone who by long study has gained mastery in one or more disciplines)
mentor; wise man (a wise and trusted guide and advisor)
highbrow (a person of intellectual or erudite tastes)
brain; brainiac; Einstein; genius; mastermind (someone who has exceptional intellectual ability and originality)
expositor; expounder (a person who explains)
egghead (an intellectual; a very studious and academic person)
decipherer; decoder (the kind of intellectual who converts messages from a code to plain text)
clever clogs; clever Dick (an intellectual who is ostentatiously and irritatingly knowledgeable)
bel esprit (a witty or clever person with a fine mind)
aphorist (someone who formulates aphorisms or who repeats aphorisms)
alchemist (one who was versed in the practice of alchemy and who sought an elixir of life and a panacea and an alkahest and the philosopher's stone)
exponent (someone who expounds and interprets or explains)
anomalist (someone who has a special interest in exceptional cases)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Appealing to or using the intellect
Example:
intellectual literature
Classified under:
Similar:
highbrow; highbrowed (highly cultured or educated)
rational (having its source in or being guided by the intellect (as distinguished from experience or emotion))
reflective (devoted to matters of the mind)
good; serious (appealing to the mind)
sophisticated (intellectually appealing)
Also:
educated (possessing an education (especially having more than average knowledge))
mental (involving the mind or an intellectual process)
scholarly (characteristic of scholars or scholarship)
Attribute:
intellect; mind (knowledge and intellectual ability)
Antonym:
nonintellectual (not intellectual)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Of or associated with or requiring the use of the mind
Example:
the triumph of the rational over the animal side of man
Synonyms:
intellectual; noetic; rational
Classified under:
Similar:
mental (involving the mind or an intellectual process)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Involving intelligence rather than emotions or instinct
Example:
cerebral drama
Synonyms:
cerebral; intellectual
Classified under:
Adjectives
Derivation:
intellect (knowledge and intellectual ability)
Context examples:
He had simply lost sight of her and her part in the affair in his intellectual effort.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
People with Down syndrome can have physical problems, as well as intellectual disabilities.
(Down Syndrome, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)
A mental disorder caused by intrinsic disease which is characterized by acute or chronic impairment of intellectual functioning, behavior, mood or judgment.
(Organic Brain Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)
A question about an individual's overall intellectual well being.
(Overall Intellectual Well Being, NCI Thesaurus)
If the Phe level gets too high, it can damage the brain and cause severe intellectual disability.
(Phenylketonuria, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)
He thinks of nothing else save when, as an intellectual exercise, he unbends if I call upon him and ask him to advise me on one of my little problems.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It may be fatal or lead to long term disabilities including developmental delays, intellectual disability, and seizures.
(Hypoxic Encephalopathy, NCI Thesaurus)
The branch of psychobiology that tries to understand cognitive functioning, including intellectual, memory, and related neurocognitive processes, by understanding the way that genes, proteins, and molecules interact.
(Molecular Psychobiology, NCI Thesaurus)
Signs and symptoms include intellectual disability, hepatomegaly, hepatic failure, and renal failure.
(Galactosemia, NCI Thesaurus)
Signs and symptoms include lethargy, feeding difficulties, hypotonia, intellectual deformities, and seizures.
(Glycine Encephalopathy, NCI Thesaurus)
