Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having intelligence.
  • adjective Having a high degree of intelligence; mentally acute.
  • adjective Showing sound judgment and rationality.
  • adjective Appealing to the intellect; intellectual.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having the faculty of understanding; capable of comprehending facts or ideas: as, man is an intelligent being.
  • Having an active intellect; possessing aptitude or skill; well informed: as, an intelligent artisan or officer.
  • Marked by or indicating intelligence; guided by knowledge or comprehension: as, the intelligent actions of ants; an intelligent answer.
  • Having knowledge; cognizant: followed by of.
  • Bearing intelligence; giving information; communicative.
  • Synonyms Common-sense, etc. (see sensible); quick, bright, acute, discerning, sharp-witted, clear-headed.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Endowed with the faculty of understanding or reason.
  • adjective Possessed of a high level of intelligence, education, or judgment; knowing; sensible; skilled; exhibiting high intelligence
  • adjective obsolete Cognizant; aware; communicative.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of high or especially quick cognitive capacity, bright.
  • adjective Well thought-out, well considered.
  • adjective Characterized by thoughtful interaction.
  • adjective Having the same level of brain power as mankind.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective exercising or showing good judgment
  • adjective endowed with the capacity to reason
  • adjective having the capacity for thought and reason especially to a high degree
  • adjective possessing sound knowledge

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin intelligēns, intelligent-, present participle of intellegere, intelligere, to perceive : inter-, inter- + legere, to choose; see leg- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin intellegēns ("discerning"), present active participle of intellegō ("understand, comprehend"), itself from inter ("between") + legō ("choose, pick out, read").

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Examples

  • "Twice," said I. "Is he intelligent -- _really _intelligent?

    The Conquest of America A Romance of Disaster and Victory Cleveland Moffett 1894

  • Replacing God with the term intelligent designer makes no difference as the history of ID shows that this designer is simply God.

    When the truth hurts - The Panda's Thumb 2006

  • Guess who was one of the sponsors of HB 4946 which would have added the term intelligent designer or creator to science standards?

    False Fear? - The Panda's Thumb 2006

  • The problem is that these ‘arguments’ apply equally well to the term intelligent design as it does to the term creationism.

    Desperate times ask for desperate arguments - The Panda's Thumb 2005

  • Autechre, whose music was codified by the phrase "intelligent dance music," or IDM.

    NPR Topics: News 2011

  • Autechre, whose music was codified by the phrase "intelligent dance music," or IDM.

    NPR Topics: News 2011

  • To solidify this point, consider the deposition testimony of Charles Thaxton as to why he started to use the term intelligent design in the

    Evolution News & Views 2009

  • To solidify this point, consider the deposition testimony of Charles Thaxton as to why he started to use the term intelligent design in the

    Evolution News & Views 2009

  • To solidify this point, consider the deposition testimony of Charles Thaxton as to why he started to use the term intelligent design in the

    Evolution News & Views 2009

  • To solidify this point, consider the deposition testimony of Charles Thaxton as to why he started to use the term intelligent design in the

    Evolution News & Views 2009

Comments

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  • -All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach.

    -Adolf Hitler

    July 29, 2009