intelligent

Pluralintelligents

1. 1
   adjective

   Possessing a high degree of mental ability, or a mind that works especially quickly.

   Her intelligent and curious mind made her a natural scientist.

   Crows are remarkably intelligent, using bent twigs as tools to reach food.

   Similarclever, bright, smart, brilliant, sharp

   Oppositestupid, unintelligent, dim, dull

   Note

   The word's history explains this sense best. Latin intellegēns means 'discerning', from inter 'between' and legō 'choose, pick out, read'. To be intelligent was to choose between things and tell them apart. For comparison, use more intelligent and most intelligent. The forms intelligenter and intelligentest do exist, but they are rare and proscribed, so the longer forms are the safe choice in any register.

2. 2
   adjective

   Well thought out and carefully considered.

   The committee praised the report's intelligent approach to the budget crisis.

   His handling of the negotiations was intelligent enough to avoid a costly strike.

   Similarsensible, wise, shrewd, astute, judicious

   Oppositefoolish, unwise, stupid

3. 3
   adjective

   Marked by thoughtful interaction or exchange.

   Their conversation was intelligent, ranging from politics to poetry.

   The panel held an intelligent debate on climate policy.

   Similarthoughtful, informed, sophisticated, learned

   Oppositeinane, mindless, shallow

4. 4
   adjective

   Equipped with a built-in computer capability that senses the environment and operates automatically.

   Modern cars use intelligent braking systems that detect obstacles automatically.

   The building's intelligent lighting adjusts to occupancy and the level of daylight.

   Similarsmart, automated, automatic, computerized

   Note

   In computing and engineering, no mind is implied at all. The device senses its surroundings and acts automatically through built-in computing, without being told. The word attaches to hardware and systems, as in an intelligent network or an intelligent keyboard. Unlike the human-level meaning, it claims no reasoning or understanding, only automatic response.

5. 5
   adjective

   Having mental capacity at least roughly equal to that of human beings.

   Scientists debate whether a truly intelligent machine could ever match human reasoning.

   If we ever meet an intelligent species from another world, communication will be hard.

   Similarsentient, rational

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A member of the intelligentsia, or more broadly any intelligent person.

   The journal was read mainly by intelligents in the capital.

   As a young intelligent, she debated philosophy in crowded cafés.

   Similarintellectual

   Note

   A borrowing that met an English word halfway: partly Russian интеллигент, one member of the intelligentsia, and partly the adjective put to work as a noun. Today it appears mostly in writing about Russia's educated class in tsarist and revolutionary times, usually in the plural, as in many Russian intelligents. Older use was broader: The Comparative Coincidence of Reason and Scripture (1832) applies it to any thinking being.

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