To understand or sense something without conscious step-by-step reasoning.
Reach for it when describing rapid judgment while leaving its basis open to examination
Experienced restorers could intuit where the hidden brace would meet the wall.
| everyday | |
|---|---|
| warm | |
| professional | |
| formal | |
| literary |
everyday
sense
Fits when a faint impression or awareness is enough
Careful Sense can arise from emotion and carries less confidence than intuit.
warm
feel
Fits when informal language should acknowledge a non-analytical impression
Careful Feel can sound arbitrary and should not replace evidence in a high-stakes claim.
professional
infer
Fits when evidence supports a conclusion through reasoning
Careful Inference is conscious and explainable, unlike the immediate grasp in intuit.
formal
Fits when careful perception identifies a subtle difference
Careful Discern may involve deliberate observation rather than intuition.
formal
surmise
Fits when a tentative conclusion is formed with incomplete evidence
Careful Surmise stresses uncertainty and may involve explicit reasoning.
literary
apprehend
Fits when the mind grasps the meaning directly
Careful Apprehend is elevated and can also mean arrest.
intuit the answer
She could intuit the answer but still wrote out the check.
intuit from context
Most readers can intuit from context which entrance the note describes.
difficult to intuit
The unlabeled control is difficult to intuit without trial and error.
Keep in mind
Intuition can encode experience or bias. High-stakes decisions still need reasons, evidence, and a check against error.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Paul2520, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Updated
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