Definition

Adjective: 1. Not intellectual; not involving or requiring the use of the intellect: Describes a person, activity, or thing that is not characterized by or concerned with intellectual pursuits, serious thought, or high culture. It often implies a focus on the physical, practical, emotional, or instinctual rather than the cerebral or analytical.

Usage and Examples

• Describing a person:

  • He was a nonintellectual man who preferred working with his hands to reading books.
  • The politician's nonintellectual appeal resonated with voters who valued plain speaking.

• Describing an activity or interest:

  • She found gardening to be a satisfying nonintellectual escape from her demanding academic job.
  • The film was a nonintellectual action movie, designed purely for entertainment.

• Describing a quality or approach:

  • The debate was frustrating due to his nonintellectual arguments, which relied on emotion rather than facts.
  • The magazine's content is deliberately nonintellectual, focusing on celebrity gossip and lifestyle tips.

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• The term can be neutral, simply describing a lack of intellectual focus, but it can sometimes carry a slightly pejorative connotation, suggesting a lack of depth or sophistication.
• It is often used in contrast to "intellectual" to highlight a dichotomy between thought and action, or between high culture and popular culture.
• "nonintellectual pleasures": Refers to enjoyments derived from sensory or physical experiences rather than mental ones.
  • After writing her thesis, she indulged in the nonintellectual pleasures of hiking and cooking.

Variants and Related Words

• Unintellectual (adjective): Very similar in meaning to "nonintellectual," often used interchangeably. Some subtle distinctions may exist, with "unintellectual" sometimes implying an inability or disinclination to be intellectual, while "nonintellectual" can be a more neutral descriptor of category.
• Anti-intellectual (adjective): This is a stronger, more active term. It describes a person or attitude that is hostile or opposed to intellectual values, intellectuals, or intellectual pursuits. (e.g., )

Synonyms

• Unscholarly
• Uncerebral
• Practical (in some contexts)
• Instinctual (in some contexts)

Antonyms

• Intellectual
• Cerebral
• Highbrow
• Scholarly
• Thoughtful

Adjective

1. not intellectual