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Intelligent

adj. capable, thoughtful everyday

What it means

Meaning 1

Able to learn, reason, and apply understanding effectively.

Reach for it when praising mental ability without making it the person's entire identity

The intelligent apprentice checked the source before accepting the confident answer.

Meaning 2

Designed or chosen with sound understanding of the situation.

Reach for it when praising a system, response, or decision that adapts sensibly

The building uses intelligent shading to reduce heat without darkening the rooms.

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: Able to learn, reason, and apply understanding effectively.

  • everyday

    clever

    Fits when quickness or ingenuity is the notable strength

    Careful Clever can imply trickiness and is narrower than intelligent understanding.

  • everyday

    smart

    Fits when friendly, broad praise for mental ability fits

    Careful Smart can also mean stylish or painful and may sound casual.

  • warm

    bright

    Fits when quick learning deserves encouraging language

    Careful Calling an adult expert bright can sound patronizing.

  • warm

    wise

    Fits when good judgment and humane values matter more than raw ability

    Careful Wisdom is earned through judgment, not intelligence alone.

  • formal

    astute

    Fits when practical judgment reads people or situations accurately

    Careful Astute may sound calculating and does not cover learning ability broadly.

Meaning 2: Designed or chosen with sound understanding of the situation.

  • professional

    adaptive

    Fits when a system changes appropriately when conditions change

    Careful An adaptive response can still rest on an unwise choice.

  • professional

    well-designed

    Fits when the artifact's thoughtful construction is what deserves credit

    Careful Well-designed credits human work and avoids implying machine intelligence.

  • formal

    responsive

    Fits when the system reacts usefully to inputs or needs

    Careful Responsive can follow simple rules and need not be intelligent.

Opposites 3

  • unintelligent
  • foolish
  • senseless

Common phrases 3

  • intelligent person

    An intelligent person can still benefit from a second perspective.

  • intelligent choice

    Reusing the stone was an intelligent choice for both cost and continuity.

  • intelligent system

    The intelligent system lowers blinds only on the sunlit side.

Word family 1

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