in·tel·li·gent
(ĭn-tĕl′ə-jənt)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
Indo-European roots.]
in·tel′li·gen′tial (-jĕn′shəl) adj.
in·tel′li·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.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.