intelligentin‧tel‧li‧gent /ɪnˈtelədʒənt/ ●●● S3 W3 AWL adjective 
a group of highly intelligent (=very intelligent) students Sontag was once famously described as the most intelligent woman in America.2an intelligent comment, question, conversation etc shows that you have thought about something carefully and understand it well: an intelligent question You can’t have an intelligent conversation with him.3an intelligent creature is able to think and understand: Are there intelligent beings on other planets? forms of intelligent life4an intelligent machine, system etc is able to learn and use information—intelligently adverbTHESAURUSintelligent having a high level of mental ability, and good at thinking clearly and understanding ideas: · The top universities aim to select the most intelligent students.clever especially British English, smart especially American English intelligent, so that you can think and learn quickly and find ways to solve problems: · That was very clever of you. How did you do that?· I wasn’t smart enough to be a lawyer.bright intelligent – used especially about children and young people: · He’s a very bright kid.· the brightest student in the classbrilliant extremely intelligent and good at the work you do: · a brilliant scientistgifted a gifted child is much more intelligent than most other children: · a special school for gifted childrenwise able to make good decisions and give sensible advice, especially because you have a lot of experience: · a wise old mancunning/crafty good at using your intelligence to get what you want, often by making secret plans or tricking people: · She was cunning enough to keep this latest piece of information secret.· He’s a crafty old devil!brainy informal intelligent and good at studying: · My sister is the brainy one in our family.
WORD ORIGINintelligent
Origin:
1500-1600 Latin present participle of intelligere, intellegere ‘to understand’, from inter- ( ➔ INTER-) + legere ‘to gather, choose’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- "We're looking for highly intelligent young people, with a genuine interest in their subject," a university spokesman said.
- an intelligent decision
- Anne was surprised to hear such an intelligent question coming from a very small child.
- Do you think there are intelligent life forms on other planets?
- Have you got any intelligent suggestions to make?
- Mark was an intelligent, ambitious young man, with a great future in front of him.
- Some scientists claim that dolphins are more intelligent than humans.
- Vlasic is a very intelligent player.
THESAURUS
having a high level of mental ability, and good at thinking clearly and understanding ideas: · The top universities aim to select the most intelligent students.
especially British English, smart especially American English intelligent, so that you can think and learn quickly and find ways to solve problems: · That was very clever of you. How did you do that?· I wasn’t smart enough to be a lawyer.
intelligent – used especially about children and young people: · He’s a very bright kid.· the brightest student in the class
extremely intelligent and good at the work you do: · a brilliant scientist
a gifted child is much more intelligent than most other children: · a special school for gifted children
able to make good decisions and give sensible advice, especially because you have a lot of experience: · a wise old man
good at using your intelligence to get what you want, often by making secret plans or tricking people: · She was cunning enough to keep this latest piece of information secret.· He’s a crafty old devil!
informal intelligent and good at studying: · My sister is the brainy one in our family.
Longman Language Activatorgood at learning, thinking, and understanding ideas having a high level of natural mental ability, so that you are good at thinking, learning, and understanding ideas: · Mark was an intelligent, ambitious young man, with a great future in front of him.· Some scientists claim that dolphins are more intelligent than humans.highly intelligent: · "We're looking for highly intelligent young people, with a genuine interest in their subject," a university spokesman said.
especially British /smart especially American good at learning and understanding things quickly, and at thinking how to solve problems: · He's a smart kid who works hard and is focused on what he wants to do.· My sister was always much cleverer than me at school.it is clever/smart of somebody: · That was very clever of you, How did you do that?it is clever/smart of somebody to do something: · Dick's had a bad injury, and it's probably smart of him not to play sports for a while.
intelligent and likely to be successful - use this especially about children and young people: · Even as a small child, it was obvious that Bobby was very bright.· When I first met her she was a bright young lawyer fresh out of law school.best and brightest: · Companies want to prevent their best and brightest employees from being headhunted by rival organizations.
to be intelligent and able to think about things clearly, understand things quickly, and solve problems well: · Sean's teachers told him that he had a good mind and the ability to be an excellent student.
to be intelligent according to what you score on a special test: · Both the twins have a high IQ of around 150.· MENSA is an organization for people with high IQs.
a child who is gifted is much more intelligent and quicker at learning than most other children: · In the past, gifted children have not always been given appropriate educational support.· Bloomsury House is a special school for girls and boys who are exceptionally gifted.
informal very intelligent and especially good at studying: · At school Karen was always one of the brainy ones.· Why don't you ask Tom to help you with your homework -- he's incredibly brainy.
extremely intelligent a brilliant scientist, student, lawyer etc is one who is extremely intelligent and extremely successful at what they do: · The brilliant physicist Paul Dirac first put forward this theory back in 1990.· a brilliant historian
someone with a very high level of intelligence, which only a few people have, especially someone who has original and important ideas: · Perot was a wonderful businessman and a genius in his own way.mathematical/musical/artistic etc genius: · Einstein was probably the greatest mathematical genius of all time.
quick to understand or make decisions intelligent and able to understand things quickly: · Some children in the class are quicker than others.· She's very quick and able -- seems to pick things up in no time.quick at (doing) something: · Craig was always quick at maths, but he had trouble with reading and writing.
someone who is sharp understands things very quickly, especially so that it is difficult to deceive or confuse them: · There's no point lying to her - she's much too sharp.razor sharp (=extremely sharp): · Those lawyers are razor sharp, and you've got to be careful about every single word you say.
able to understand things quickly and to answer people in an intelligent way: · John was always so quick-witted that I used to think he would have made a good secret agent.· Throughout a lifetime of public service, he proved himself a quick-witted negotiator.
a wise person makes good decisions and gives good advice, because they have a lot of experience of life - use this especially about older people: · She was a wise old woman, and we all valued her advice.· Burton didn't like what he was hearing, but he was wise enough to keep his thoughts to himself.
spoken informal someone who is quick on the uptake learns new things and understands a situation very quickly: · You're very quick on the uptake! How did you guess?· We're looking for new staff - people who are neat, enthusiastic and quick on the uptake.
intelligent and well-educated someone who is educated is intelligent and knows a lot because they have had a good education, have read a lot etc: · You're smart, you're educated, you shouldn't have any trouble finding a job.· In general, children of educated parents tend to get better grades.well educated: · The boy came from a good home, was well educated and had every advantage.highly educated: · Nadia is a highly-educated, very motivated individual who will go far.
an intelligent, well-educated person who spends a lot of their time thinking about, writing about, and discussing ideas, literature etc: · It's an organization of writers, artists and intellectuals, who come together to discuss their ideas.· The restaurant was once the meeting place for leading French left-wing intellectuals such as Sartre and de Beauvoir.
formal a learned person has read many books and knows a lot about many things, and is greatly respected because of their knowledge: · The old professor was obviously a very learned man.· It's true that art critics aren't as learned as art-historians in these matters.
someone who is academic is very good at studying and does well at school, university etc: · I wasn't very academic, and l left school at sixteen.· If you're academic, you can take some of your exams a year or two early.· Teachers must provide challenging activities for their more academic pupils.
the most intelligent person or people in a country, organization etc: the brains: · You'd better ask Toby. He's the brains around here.best brains: · Many of Britain's best brains have left the country to go and work in America.
formal the most intelligent and highly educated people in a society such as the writers, thinkers, and artists: · The demonstrators belong to the middle classes and the intelligentsia, which have suffered most as a result of the government's economic policies.
someone who is clever at dealing with people or situations especially British /smart especially American intelligent in a practical way, and able to use your intelligence to get advantages for yourself: · Ben Gurion was a cool, calculating and clever politician.· They won the case by being clever and hiring influential lawyers to help them.· She was smart and knew how to get men to give her whatever she wanted.clever at doing something: · Doug's always been clever at finding the best deals available.
a shrewd person is good at deciding what people, situations etc are really like, so that it is difficult to deceive them - use this especially about people who are successful in business: · As a manager, Watson is both shrewd and tough.· Are you a shrewd businessman, quick to see an opportunity or a bargain?· Sachs was a shrewd judge of character, and chose his staff well.
someone who is astute easily understands why people behave in a particular way, why a situation is happening etc, without anyone having to tell them: · Morgan was surprised at how astute she was. "How did you know that?" he asked.· The scale of the riots seemed to surprise even the most astute commentators.financially/politically etc astute: · The President's wife is often politically astute, ambitious and very influential in White House policy decisions.
someone who is canny is very clever, especially in business, so that it is difficult to deceive them and they are able to take advantage of other people: · Pete Chambers is a canny fellow. Not one to miss an opportunity.· She's far too canny to keep her money in this country. She's got it safely hidden away in Switzerland, I expect.
clever at finding ways to deal with problems or difficult situations, using whatever material, information etc that is available to you: · We can influence our children's development by encouraging them to be resourceful when they play.· Keen competition in the arts, crafts and trade made the Greeks an inventive and resourceful people.
someone who is streetwise has a lot of experience of life in big cities, so they know what to do in difficult or dangerous situations: · He seemed very streetwise for a kid who had just left school.· Zachar is a streetwise guy from New York, a gambler who grew up playing the horses at Belmont Park.
informal to be very difficult to trick or deceive because you have a lot of experience or knowledge of people: · Katherine could look after herself and she was nobody's fool when it came to money.
clever in a dishonest or secret way a cunning person gets what they want by thinking carefully about it, making secret plans, and deceiving people: · Hawkeye was very cunning - he always waited until his enemy was alone and unarmed before making his attack.· She's a cunning little devil! She left for school as usual, and then went into town instead with her friends.
a sly person secretly deceives people and is always thinking of ways to get advantages for themselves: · Eliot looked sly and deceitful, as though he wasn't telling us the whole truth. · He's a sly old devil isn't he! Nobody knew he had as much money as that!on the sly (=secretly and in a way that deceives people): · My parents didn't approve, but we continued to meet on the sly.
a crafty person is good at getting what they want by planning carefully and secretly deceiving people, often in a way that other people admire: · Jerry was crafty -- he got into the match free by crawling under the fence.· Crafty cyber-thieves have found that they can steal a lot of money in electronic bank thefts with very little risk.
a wily person has had a lot of experience of getting what they want by tricking people, so that it is very difficult to trick them: · Breen had a reputation for being a tough and wily negotiator.· The Fawcett brothers were too wily to be caught, and the local residents could get no help from the law.
an annoying person who thinks they are clever also know-all British spoken someone who annoys you because they always think they know the correct answers, know a lot about something etc: · OK, if you're such a know-it-all, you try and do it, then.· I just wish he'd stop being such a know-all all the time.
informal someone, especially a young person, who annoys you because they say funny or intelligent things in a rude way: · Glover was different to the rest of us. The son of university people. A smart aleck.· Some smart aleck at the back of the room kept standing up and asking awkward questions.
American informal someone who annoys you because they make jokes or give answers in a rude but funny way: · OK, smart-ass! If I want an answer from you I'll ask for it.
British informal use this about someone who uses their intelligence in a way that annoys other people, and will probably get into trouble at some time in the future: · Phil's good at thinking up excuses for his behaviour - he's too clever by half.
a clever plan, idea, or way of doing something especially British a clever idea, plan, or way of doing something is good and works well: · It sounds like a clever idea. Do you think it'll work?· Virtual Listening Systems have introduced one of the year's most unusual and clever new products.· I've thought of a really clever way of making money.
an intelligent idea, question etc is thought of or asked by someone who is intelligent: · Have you got any intelligent suggestions to make?· Anne was surprised to hear such an intelligent question coming from a very small child.
an ingenious method, idea, or piece of equipment is cleverly designed to do a job or solve a problem in a very original way: · A scanner is an ingenious device which enables you to feed pictures, photos or documents into a computer system.· American scientists have come up with an ingenious way of getting rid of cockroaches.· The catalogue is full of ingenious ideas for transforming your house into a dream home.· In the end it was Pete who thought of a really ingenious solution to the problem.
an idea etc that is clever, simple, and effective: · One of our designers has come up with a neat idea for storing computer disks.· Taking up a sport is a neat way of meeting new people, and it's good for you too.· It's a complicated problem, and there's no neat solution.
a system or machine such as a computer that is smart is cleverly designed and does something effectively: · The new software system is really smart and it's much quicker to use too.
carefully planned, clever, and intended to deceive people: · They use all kinds of cunning tricks to make people give them money.· His leadership style was to maintain power through a combination of force and cunning strategy.· a cunning marketing ploy
a crafty plan or way of doing something etc is one that is cleverly planned and involves deceiving other people, in a way that people admire: · It was a crafty question. "Why are you trying to catch me out?" he replied.· Jerry and Tony had worked out a crafty way of avoiding paying tax.
an inspired idea, plan etc is extremely clever and impressive and is one that someone suddenly thinks of, without knowing how or why: · "How did you know the answer to that?" "I didn't, it was just an inspired guess."· Even the most inspired forecasts of how prices are going to move can't be right all the time.· The band represents some of the best young talent that's around, resulting in a sound that's both innovative and inspired.
a clever idea about how to do something: · I like it! It sounds like a really bright idea.· I don't know what kind of present she'd like -- if you have any bright ideas let me know.have/come up with the bright idea of doing something (=often used humorously): · George came up with the bright idea of visiting every pub we passed.
serious books, ideas etc that are intended for intelligent people · She likes reading those trendy intellectual magazines about politics and society.· There seemed to be remarkably few cultural or intellectual events for the undergraduates at the university.
a book, article, or other piece of writing that is scholarly deals with a serious subject and is written in a very detailed way after a lot of study: · The organization is dedicated to scholarly research on life in the next millennium.· Fullington discovered 11 new species of land snails and wrote more than 90 scholarly articles and books.
intended for very intelligent and educated people and therefore not interesting for a lot of people: · He picked up a book that was lying on the floor. It was something highbrow - Kafka, I think.· Readers of tabloid newspapers are less interested in politics and less likely to tune into highbrow news programmes.
something such as an idea or statement that is profound shows a lot of knowledge and understanding of a serious subject: · The book contains a great many profound insights into human behaviour.· Further research has resulted in a more profound appreciation of the problem.· Burton's lecture was amusing as well as being profound.
dealing with a subject in an intelligent and sincere way rather than in an amusing way: · I must admit I find the serious newspapers rather boring.· At school we had to read works by serious writers like Shakespeare and Milton.
the ability to learn well the ability to learn quickly, think clearly, and understand ideas well: · A child's intelligence develops rapidly between the ages of four and five.· Intelligence cannot be measured just by exam results.· In order to be a pilot you need to be of above average intelligence.· The department bases its selection process on a series of intelligence tests.
the ability to think quickly and well, remember a lot of facts, and be good at studying: somebody's brains: · He has his mother's brains and his father's good looks.· With your brains, you should easily get into college.have the brains (to do something): · Chloe had always been the one with the brains to really make something of herself.
a very high level of intelligence and ability: · Eddie's brilliance brought him top marks in the Harvard entrance exam.· His reputation was founded on his organizational abilities and his acknowledged brilliance as a leader of men.
the ability to think about and understand and express complicated ideas: · Our physical strength declines with age, but not necessarily our intellect.the intellect: · Joyce's books seem designed to appeal to the intellect rather than the emotions.a great/formidable etc intellect: · Rehnquist was a great scholar who possessed a formidable intellect.
an extremely high level of intelligence, ability, and skill which only a few people have: · Could a computer ever achieve the genius of men like Newton and Einstein.· Maurice was always entertaining, but there was a touch of genius in the way he talked that night.have a genius for (doing) something: · Sandra will deal with it. That woman has a genius for organization.
knowledge and good judgement based on experience of life: · Paul learned to value his father's wisdom and advice.the wisdom of something: · Some people were beginning to doubt the wisdom of their leader's decisions.conventional wisdom (=what is usually considered to be true and right): · Conventional wisdom says that the health of the economy is one of the most important factors that determines a president's chances of winning re-election.
not intelligent also not too bright/intelligent/clever/smart someone who is not very bright/intelligent/clever/smart is unable to learn and understand things quickly and easily: · Sometimes I think Sheila just isn't very bright.· Saja may be handsome, but he's not too smart.· Franco works hard but he isn't really very intelligent.· He treated me like a young and not very clever child.
not at all intelligent: · She talks to us as if we're completely stupid.· Poor Larry's too stupid to realize when you're making fun of him.· It's only stupid people who believe in all that astrology mumbo-jumbo.
especially American, spoken not at all intelligent: · The athletic guys were seen as 'cute but dumb'.· You're so dumb, Clarissa!· If we look dumb enough, someone's bound to come and help us out.
British informal not at all intelligent: · He's a nice boy, but he's a bit thick, isn't he?· Not wishing to appear thick, but what exactly are you doing?as thick as two short planks (=very stupid): · Some of the students they let in these days are as thick as two short planks.
informal unintelligent and very slow to learn: · She's not the brightest kid in the class -- in fact, she's quite dim.· I'm playing a guy who's well-meaning but kind of dim.
informal completely stupid: · My sister's latest boyfriend is pretty brainless; it's impossible to have a conversation with him.· 'You brainless scum!' he shouted after the departing boys.
British informal very stupid - use this especially to describe someone who looks stupid or who never has their own ideas: · He just sat there with his mouth open looking really gormless.· a grinning, gormless boy
formal not as intelligent as most people: · It would be a mistake to assume that all football players are unintelligent.· He may not be as bright as his sister, but he's far from unintelligent.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY a group of highly intelligent (=very intelligent) students Are there intelligent beings on other planets? forms of intelligent lifeCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES a story about alien beings who invade Earth
a group of highly intelligent (=very intelligent) students Are there intelligent beings on other planets? forms of intelligent life a story about alien beings who invade Earth· Analysis of the archaeological site will help us make an intelligent guess as to what it was used for.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· She thought of herself as intelligent and had been called so.· Some people think that an uncreative individual can not properly be regarded as intelligent, and others strongly disagree.· Masklin always said that they're nearly as intelligent as we are.· Summary statements are useful in everyday speech, where we are continually describing people as intelligent or aggressive or generous or nice.· Strangers will be less intimidating, as intelligent badges will swap information that helps you find a compatible person.· You must be at least as intelligent as me.
· Baboons are highly intelligent animals and learn to satisfy their biological needs in many often diverse ways.· A highly intelligent, highly motivated, and extremely personable young woman, Crystal has had numerous supports along the way.· Now as then, Gielgud is acute, highly intelligent and concerned to help draw a full portrait.· City Hall insiders described Cruz as highly intelligent and ultrasensitive to minority issues.· Alix seemed to her to be both practical and highly intelligent.· By the time she was ready to go, this highly intelligent and capable woman spoke the language fluently.· Loved to talk: never boring. Highly intelligent - read a great deal.· First, that rugby players are a highly intelligent, dedicated and wise bunch.
· In January a national poll found that most whites think blacks are lazy, less intelligent and less patriotic than whites are.· A less intelligent and less secure judge might have permitted the defense to explore these avenues.· Your Watson, then, needs to be just a little less intelligent than you conceive your readers as being.· A side-effect of this automation was that the network became less intelligent, albeit much cheaper to run.· That departure to university of a man far less intelligent than himself had been a blow to Stephen.· They were less intelligent, but more sympathetic, providing the glue that held the family together.· Macaques and other less intelligent primates have not yet displayed the self-recognition abilities of apes and humans.
· Another runner more intelligent than most, mingled exclusively with the dealers.· A flurry of hands from the more eager, more intelligent first graders.· I mentioned earlier that he was like Slim - more intelligent and caring than most, and very different.· These new assistants are more intelligent than their predecessors.· I couldn't have been more fortunate in working with two more intelligent and delightful men.· It is the need to outwit and dupe and help and teach one another that drove us to be ever more intelligent.· It's more intelligent than Trivial Pursuit and noisier than Charades.· She had never met a handsomer man, or one more intelligent.
· But Tobermory is a most intelligent cat.· Does this sound like the rational act of the most intelligent species on the planet?· Many a time he commented upon the mental rapport he found with his most intelligent animals.· For all his eccentricity, he had impressed me as a most intelligent man.· As far as she knew porpoises were the most intelligent.· The threat was that if reform failed, one of their liveliest, most intelligent, and often wealthiest constituencies would withdraw.· The most intelligent of people have heart attacks as well as the stupid ones.· He, too, has been questioned but he is not the most intelligent of men, or the best of horse-riders.
· He'd always believed that humans were quite intelligent.· He was not intellectual or scholarly, but nevertheless quite intelligent.
· He's so intelligent that I don't think he would even take his glasses off before doing it.· They're so intelligent and full of character.· How could a man so intelligent in every other way be so obtuse when it came to ordinary everyday living?· How could I ever listen to office gossip even in bed and find it so intelligent?· Squids are so intelligent and swift-moving that they must find little difficulty in avoiding man's clumsy deep-sea dredges.· She thought of Miguel, stern, slightly stuffy at times, yet so kind and so intelligent.· Do we need this old Graeco-Roman game - like Eliot's Shakespeherian rag, so elegant, so intelligent?· Amazing how some one so intelligent can be stupid enough to think such hypocrisy would pass unnoticed.
· A mug's game, because her mind was blurred and Jessica was far too intelligent, and caught her drift immediately.· Beth is too intelligent not to realize that she has been snubbed.· But he was too intelligent not to have a conscience.
· He would never have found me, because he was not very intelligent.· Oh yes, very intelligent, almost an intellectual.· Still, Brown's impeccable exercises in style are highly engaging, visually spectacular and very intelligent.· A news media-ignored but very intelligent and articulate movement is afoot to bring this information to everyone.· I was not feeling very intelligent.· He was only 27, amusing, very intelligent and talented and will be deeply missed by those who knew him.· Because Bruce is really very intelligent.
NOUN· Could we redesign companies in a completely new light using the negotiation skills and information-filtering of intelligent agents?· No, no one in my country was quite clever enough to program intelligent agents.· The simplest idea is that the ad contains intelligent agents that communicate with your agents to determine your likes and dislikes.· In the meantime, though, people are the only intelligent agents in the computer world.· Firstly, intelligent agents will become ubiquitous.
· He took me to the farmer, who soon realized that I was not an animal, but an intelligent being.· Maybe some other race of intelligent beings elsewhere in the galaxy will achieve a better balance between responsibility and aggression.
· I have to look at an intelligent face.· Glover completely approved of most of them, of their long, loose legs and intelligent faces.· Erica Lucas was five feet six, with a thin, strong, intelligent face.· He had a square, intelligent face and a quiet manner which exuded self-confidence.
· It decrees that intelligent life in some way selects out its own actual universe from a variety of possible alternatives.· Yes, well, I suppose they also told you that intelligent life has been found on Mars?· You have to know about stuff like this or your program is going to claim it's found intelligent life on Mars.· Two years ago, we discovered the first evidence for intelligent life outside the Earth.· Obviously there is pleasure in watching Hollywood recognise intelligent life in the typing pool.· Most of these universes will not provide the right conditions for the development of the complicated structures needed for intelligent life.· However, a strong thermodynamic arrow is necessary for intelligent life to operate.· Thus intelligent life could not exist in the contracting phase of the universe.
· He cited as an example an intelligent man who had been disabled.· Just as I was warming to the subject, I noticed that this handsome, intelligent man was finishing my sentences.· He was not a very intelligent man; intelligent men do not go to prison with such sad regularity.· For all his eccentricity, he had impressed me as a most intelligent man.· What would have made an intelligent man do that?· I decided that it would be a Colonel Shelhi, a very intelligent man and a great admirer of Colonel Nasser.· He was a weaker and more intelligent man than Teixeira.
· Councillors should be treated as intelligent people who make decisions based on information.· The Romans felt that work demeaned intelligent people.· It is true that if some one talks to intelligent people regularly and is well informed and advised, then much is absorbed.· But there are intelligent people out there.· The young, intelligent people feel a great sense of betrayal, even those who at first believed in all this.· Most intelligent people who have not accepted Freudian indoctrination will ask him to tell that to the Marines.· Not just brilliance but a form of autism only now recognised in intelligent people.· I have dealt with reasonably intelligent people who have discovered that they could have claimed more money.
· It's surprising how many mistakes an otherwise intelligent person can make when left to execute a document unaided.· This Auster was the first intelligent person he had spoken to in a long time.
· The art, according to Finniston, is to ask intelligent questions and look for inconsistencies.· I like people to ask me intelligent questions and I will answer intelligently.· She spoke about it at length and Richard asked intelligent questions.
· Cameron continued to make intelligent use of the ball.· The horse has to be taught to answer the aids correctly by intelligent use of the aids and instant reward of obedience.
· I should have explained that she was an intelligent woman.· He had always enjoyed the company of intelligent women, and if they were pretty, then so much the better.· Demonstrating my attractiveness to a young intelligent woman in competition with young attractive males had become almost an obsession of mine.· Everything just so ... Julia is an attractive and intelligent woman in her early thirties.· Although her plan to import earnest and intelligent women failed, she did learn how to work the land.· Despite her handicaps Helen was an attractive, intelligent woman, and must have had many suitors.· She was acting like some idiotic schoolgirl, not an intelligent woman, she thought in exasperation.
WORD FAMILYnounintelligenceintelligentsiaintelligibilityadjectiveintelligent ≠ unintelligentintelligible ≠ unintelligibleadverbintelligentlyintelligibly
1an intelligent person has a high level of mental ability and is good at understanding ideas and thinking clearly: a group of highly intelligent (=very intelligent) students Sontag was once famously described as the most intelligent woman in America.2an intelligent comment, question, conversation etc shows that you have thought about something carefully and understand it well: an intelligent question You can’t have an intelligent conversation with him.3an intelligent creature is able to think and understand: Are there intelligent beings on other planets? forms of intelligent life4an intelligent machine, system etc is able to learn and use information—intelligently adverbTHESAURUSintelligent having a high level of mental ability, and good at thinking clearly and understanding ideas: · The top universities aim to select the most intelligent students.clever especially British English, smart especially American English intelligent, so that you can think and learn quickly and find ways to solve problems: · That was very clever of you. How did you do that?· I wasn’t smart enough to be a lawyer.bright intelligent – used especially about children and young people: · He’s a very bright kid.· the brightest student in the classbrilliant extremely intelligent and good at the work you do: · a brilliant scientistgifted a gifted child is much more intelligent than most other children: · a special school for gifted childrenwise able to make good decisions and give sensible advice, especially because you have a lot of experience: · a wise old mancunning/crafty good at using your intelligence to get what you want, often by making secret plans or tricking people: · She was cunning enough to keep this latest piece of information secret.· He’s a crafty old devil!brainy informal intelligent and good at studying: · My sister is the brainy one in our family.