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adj. 1. Having intelligence: Is there intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy? 2. Having a high degree of intelligence; mentally acute: an intelligent student. 3. Showing sound judgment and rationality: an intelligent decision; an intelligent solution to the problem. 4. Appealing to the intellect; intellectual: a film with witty and intelligent dialogue. [Latin intelligēns, intelligent-, present participle of intellegere, intelligere, to perceive : inter-, inter- + legere, to choose; see leg- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] in·tel′li·gential (-jĕnshəl) adj. in·telli·gent·ly adv. Synonyms: intelligent, bright, brilliant, smart, intellectual These adjectives mean having or showing mental keenness. Intelligent usually implies the ability to cope with new problems and to use the power of reasoning and inference effectively: The company put its most intelligent engineers to work on rectifying the design flaw. Bright implies quickness or ease in learning: She was a bright student who was soon at the head of the class. Brilliant suggests unusually impressive mental acuteness: "The dullard's envy of brilliant men is always assuaged by the suspicion that they will come to a bad end" (Max Beerbohm). Smart refers to quick intelligence and often a ready capability for taking care of one's own interests: You were smart to buy your house when prices were low. Intellectual implies the capacity to grasp difficult or abstract concepts: The former professor was the more intellectual candidate. |
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