Word family noun intelligence intelligentsia intelligibility adjective intelligent ≠ unintelligent intelligible ≠ unintelligible adverb intelligently intelligibly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishintelligentin‧tel‧li‧gent /ɪnˈtelədʒənt/ ●●● S3 W3 AWL adjective 1 an 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.2 an 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.3 INTELLIGENTan intelligent creature is able to think and understand Are there intelligent beings on other planets? forms of intelligent life4 an 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 ideasThe 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 problemsThat 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 peopleHe’s a very bright kid.the brightest student in the classbrilliant extremely intelligent and good at the work you doa brilliant scientistgifted a gifted child is much more intelligent than most other childrena special school for gifted childrenwise able to make good decisions and give sensible advice, especially because you have a lot of experiencea wise old mancunning/crafty good at using your intelligence to get what you want, often by making secret plans or tricking peopleShe was cunning enough to keep this latest piece of information secret.He’s a crafty old devil!brainy informal intelligent and good at studyingMy sister is the brainy one in our family. Examples from the Corpus
intelligent• Mark was an intelligent, ambitious young man, with a great future in front of him.• an intelligent decision• Do you think there are intelligent life forms on other planets?• Vlasic is a very intelligent player.• Anne was surprised to hear such an intelligent question coming from a very small child.• Have you got any intelligent suggestions to make?• Some scientists claim that dolphins are more intelligent than humans.• "We're looking for highly intelligent young people, with a genuine interest in their subject, " a university spokesman said.highly intelligent• 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.• 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.• Baboons are highly intelligent animals and learn to satisfy their biological needs in many often diverse ways.• He was 24, highly intelligent, could drink Malc under the table and had a dry, lightning wit.• First, that rugby players are a highly intelligent, dedicated and wise bunch.• A highly intelligent, highly motivated, and extremely personable young woman, Crystal has had numerous supports along the way.intelligent life• Most of these universes will not provide the right conditions for the development of the complicated structures needed for intelligent life.• Thus intelligent life could not exist in the contracting phase of the universe.• Yes, well, I suppose they also told you that intelligent life has been found on Mars?• It decrees that intelligent life in some way selects out its own actual universe from a variety of possible alternatives.• Obviously there is pleasure in watching Hollywood recognise intelligent life in the typing pool.• 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.• However, a strong thermodynamic arrow is necessary for intelligent life to operate.Origin intelligent (1500-1600) Latin present participle of intelligere, intellegere “to understand”, from inter- ( → INTER-) + legere “to gather, choose” 