INTELLIGENT - Cambridge English Thesaurus article page AI Assistant Dictionary Translate Grammar Thesaurus +Plus Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Games Cambridge Dictionary +Plus My profile +Plus help Log out {{userName}} Cambridge Dictionary +Plus My profile +Plus help Log out Log in / Sign up English (UK) 1 ? true : false } }), searchAutoComplete.changeToLayoutContainer(); tap:AMP.setState({ stateSearch: { autocomplete: stateSearch.dataset != 'wordlists' && stateSearch.term.length 1 } })" / Thesaurus 1) ? '/autocomplete/amp?dataset=' + stateSearch.dataset + '&q=' + stateSearch.term : 'https://'" 0 && stateHdr.searchDesk ? 'pa pdd chac-sb tc-bd bw hbr-20 hbss lpt-25' : 'hdn'" {{word}} {{#beta}} Beta{{/beta}} {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{^selected}} {{name}} {{/selected}} {{/preferredDictionaries}} Thesaurus article: intelligent intelligent These are all words used to describe someone who understands and learns new things easily. Intelligent, clever, and smart are all common ways of referring to someone who learns new things quickly and easily. Smart is more common in US English, and clever is more common in UK English. He seems like a very intelligent young man. I'm the cleverest kid in the class. She's incredibly smart and a great writer. The opposite of intelligent is unintelligent. Sometimes he comes across as quite unintelligent. Someone who is intelligent and learns quickly can be called bright. Bright is often used of children. Jacob was a very bright boy. Someone who is intelligent and quick to notice things is called sharp. Sharp is usually an approving word. How can we stay mentally sharp as we age? She's sharp. She'll make a great investigator. Someone who is extremely intelligent is sometimes described as brilliant. His father was a brilliant scholar. An intelligent person who has a special ability to do a particular thing very well can be described as gifted or talented. Gifted usually implies that your ability is not one you have to work hard for but comes naturally. Talented can mean that you have worked hard to do a thing very well, or that your ability comes naturally. She is a gifted mathematician. It is a treat to see such talented youngsters perform. The adjective intellectual can be used about someone who studies and understands complicated subjects and ideas. This course examines the most influential intellectual thinkers of modern times. The formal word cerebral can be used to describe someone who is intelligent and serious, and who enjoys serious thinking. He is a cerebral man who seems ill-suited to the role of political hero. Wise can be used to describe someone who is intelligent as the result of experience. Wise is an approving word. He sought help from a wise old teacher. A brainy person is intelligent. This word is informal. The film was about a teenage heartthrob who fell for the awkward brainy girl in school. Someone who is knowledgeable knows a lot of things, generally or about a particular subject. Declan is very knowledgeable about insects. If you describe someone as astute, you mean that they understand situations well and know how to take advantage of them. His father had a reputation as an astute businessman. Related articles an intelligent person Browse imaginative in need of sleep or rest in the opposite to a forward direction information intelligent interested in learning about people or things interested in something interesting jealous {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}} Word of the Day comfort zone UK Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio /ˈkʌm.fət ˌzəʊn/ US Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio /ˈkʌm.fɚt ˌzoʊn/ a situation in which you feel comfortable and in which your ability and determination are not being tested About this Blog Hitting the nail on the head: idioms with ‘hit’ July 22, 2026 Read More has been added to list To top AI Assistant Contents intelligent an intelligent person AI Assistant Facebook Instagram X © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2026 Learn Learn Learn New Words Help In Print Word of the Year 2021 Word of the Year 2022 Word of the Year 2023 Word of the Year 2024 Word of the Year 2025 Develop Develop Develop Dictionary API Double-Click Lookup Search Widgets License Data About About About Accessibility Cambridge English Cambridge University Press & Assessment Consent Management Cookies and Privacy Corpus Terms of Use AI Terms of Use Facebook Instagram X © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2026 {{#displayLoginPopup}} Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Learn more with +Plus Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content: Free word lists and quizzes from Cambridge Tools to create your own word lists and quizzes Word lists shared by our community of dictionary fans Sign up now or Log in Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Learn more with +Plus Create word lists and quizzes for free Sign up now or Log in {{/displayLoginPopup}} {{#displayClassicSurvey}} {{/displayClassicSurvey}} Cambridge Dictionary +Plus My profile +Plus help Log out AI Assistant Dictionary Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English Translations Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. 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Bilingual Dictionaries English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English English–Danish Danish–English English–Dutch Dutch–English English–French French–English English–German German–English English–Indonesian Indonesian–English English–Italian Italian–English English–Japanese Japanese–English English–Norwegian Norwegian–English English–Polish Polish–English English–Portuguese Portuguese–English English–Spanish Spanish–English English–Swedish Swedish–English Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese Dictionary +Plus Word Lists Choose your language English (UK)   English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Contents Cambridge Thesaurus intelligent an intelligent person My word lists To add ${headword} to a word list please sign up or log in. Sign up or Log in My word lists Add ${headword} to one of your lists below, or create a new one. {{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}} {{message}} {{/message}} {{^message}} Something went wrong. {{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} 5 && !stateSidebarWordList.expended) ? 195 : (stateSidebarWordListItems.length * 39)" [src]="stateSidebarWordListItems" {{name}} 5 && !stateSidebarWordList.expended) ? 'hao hp lmt-25' : 'hdn'" More Go to your word lists {{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}} {{message}} {{/message}} {{^message}} Something went wrong. {{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} Tell us about this example sentence: The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! 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