Synonyms for intelligence
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Intellect — the capacity of mind, especially to understand principles, truths, facts or meanings, acquire knowledge, and…
intellect, mind, acumen, smarts informal US, smartness, brightness, judgment US, judgement UK, cleverness, shrewdness, insight, brains informal, brain informal, sagacity, understanding, wit, consciousness, comprehension, discernment, apprehension, nous, quickness, head
2. News — information, often secret, about an enemy or about hostile activities
news, word, information, report formal, statement, instruction, publication, announcement, notice, notification, advice dated
Other
Definitions
- n. 1
The capacity of mind, especially to understand principles, truths, facts or meanings, acquire knowledge, and apply it to practice; the ability to comprehend and learn; the ability to process sentient experience to generate true beliefs with a justified degree of confidence.
- n. 2
Information, often secret, about an enemy or about hostile activities.
Forms
- Plural
- intelligences → intellects, minds, acumens, smartnesses…
Example sentences
- intellect Your people know that I have a superior intellect.
- acumen It is obvious to me that he has no political acumen at all.
- cleverness Granted his cleverness, he may still be mistaken.
- smartness Capricorns put everyone else's smartness to shame.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| intelligence | rising | |
| intellect | steady | |
| acumen | steady | |
| cleverness | rising | |
| smartness | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- wit1
- 4 letters
- head1, mind1, news1, word1, nous1
- 5 letters
- brain1
- 6 letters
- report2, notice2, advice2, spirit2, brains1, smarts1, acumen3
- 7 letters
- insight2
- 8 letters
- judgment2, sagacity
- 9 letters
- statement2, judgement2, intellect3, quickness2, smartness2
- 10 letters
- brightness2, cleverness3, shrewdness2
- 11 letters
- information4, publication4, instruction3, discernment3
- 12 letters
- announcement3, notification5, apprehension4
- 13 letters
- understanding4, consciousness3, comprehension4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (report2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- intelligence
- Español
- inteligencia
- Deutsch
- Intelligenz
- Català
- intel·ligència