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 Browse the A to Z list

Intelligence

n. capable, thoughtful professional

What it means

Meaning 1

The capacity to learn, reason, understand, and use knowledge effectively.

Reach for it when praising mental capability while specifying the kind when possible

Her practical intelligence helped the team solve the loading problem safely.

Meaning 2

Information gathered and analyzed to guide decisions, especially about risks or competitors.

Reach for it when using the institutional sense for assessed information

Fresh intelligence about the road conditions changed the convoy's route.

Words to choose between 8

By register, from playful at the top to literary at the bottom, and by meaning across. Tap a word to see when it fits.
Meaning 1Meaning 2
everyday
warm
professional
formal

Meaning 1: The capacity to learn, reason, understand, and use knowledge effectively.

  • everyday

    cleverness

    Fits when quick mental ability solves an immediate problem

    Careful Cleverness can be shallow or sly and does not imply broad understanding.

  • warm

    wisdom

    Fits when sound judgment shaped by knowledge and values matters

    Careful Wisdom depends on judgment, not just learning or reasoning ability.

  • professional

    acumen

    Fits when sharp practical judgment in a field deserves praise

    Careful Acumen is specialized and says less about learning capacity.

  • professional

    aptitude

    Fits when natural potential for a particular skill is being assessed

    Careful Aptitude is prospective and narrower than demonstrated intelligence.

  • formal

    intellect

    Fits when the power of reasoning and abstract thought is central

    Careful Intellect is narrower and often contrasts with emotion or instinct.

Meaning 2: Information gathered and analyzed to guide decisions, especially about risks or competitors.

  • everyday

    information

    Fits when unprocessed facts are all that is meant

    Careful Information becomes intelligence only after relevance and meaning are assessed.

  • professional

    insight

    Fits when the material reveals what matters beneath the facts

    Careful Insight can arise personally without systematic intelligence gathering.

  • formal

    reconnaissance

    Fits when direct observation gathers strategic facts

    Careful Reconnaissance is one collection method, not the resulting intelligence.

Opposites 3

  • stupidity
  • ignorance
  • misinformation

Common phrases 3

  • emotional intelligence

    Emotional intelligence helped the supervisor hear concern beneath the angry wording.

  • practical intelligence

    Practical intelligence mattered more than speed during the field repair.

  • gather intelligence

    The expedition will gather intelligence about snow conditions before moving equipment.

Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Dvortygirl, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Updated