intelligent adjective - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com

Definition of intelligent adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

intelligent

adjective
 
 
/ɪnˈtelɪdʒənt/
 
/ɪnˈtelɪdʒənt/
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  1.  
     good at learning, understanding and thinking in a logical way about things; showing this ability
    • a highly intelligent child
    • She is clearly extremely intelligent.
    • to have an intelligent conversation/discussion/debate
    • to ask an intelligent question
    Synonyms intelligentintelligentsmart ▪ clever ▪ brilliant ▪ brightThese words all describe people who are good at learning, understanding and thinking about things, and the actions that show this ability.intelligent good at learning, understanding and thinking in a logical way about things; showing this ability:
    • He’s a highly intelligent man.
    • She asked a lot of intelligent questions.
    smart (especially North American English) quick at learning and understanding things; showing the ability to make good business or personal decisions:
    • She’s smarter than her brother.
    • That was a smart career move.
    clever (sometimes disapproving, especially British English) quick at learning and understanding things; showing this ability:
    • How clever of you to work it out!
    • He’s too clever by half, if you ask me.
    People use clever in the phrase : Clever boy/​girl! to tell a young child that they have learnt or done something well. When used to or about an adult clever can be disapproving.    brilliant extremely intelligent or showing a lot of skill:
    • He’s a brilliant young scientist.
    bright intelligent; quick to learn:
    • She’s probably the brightest student in the class.
    Bright is used especially to talk about young people. Common collocations of bright include girl, boy, kid, student, pupil.    Patterns
    • clever/​brilliant at something
    • a(n) intelligent/​smart/​clever/​brilliant/​bright child/​boy/​girl/​man/​woman
    • a(n) intelligent/​smart/​clever/​brilliant thing to do
    opposite unintelligent
    Extra Examples
    • He should be able to solve the problem. He's reasonably intelligent.
    • Why do otherwise intelligent people take this event so seriously?
    • a highly intelligent woman
    • He's a highly intelligent man.
    • She asked a lot of intelligent questions.
    Topics Personal qualitiesa2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • look
    • seem
    • …
    adverb
    • extremely
    • fairly
    • very
    • …
    See full entry
  2.  
     (of an animal, a being, etc.) able to understand and learn things
    • Elephants are intelligent creatures and enjoy interacting with humans.
    • a search for intelligent life on other planets
  3. (computing) (of a computer, program, etc.) able to store information and use it in new situations
    • intelligent robots/algorithms
    4. Word Originearly 16th cent.: from Latin intelligent- ‘understanding’, from the verb intelligere, variant of intellegere ‘understand’, from inter ‘between’ + legere ‘choose’.
See intelligent in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee intelligent in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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noun
 
 
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