Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell intelligent

Intelligent is spelled I-N-T-E-L-L-I-G-E-N-T. The part people get wrong: double L.

What it means: Having the ability to think and understand well.

In a sentence: The intelligent dolphin learned new tricks quickly. ▶

The part people get wrong

Watch for double l, and an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear.

Same family: intelligence, intelligently, intellectual, smart, clever. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Intelligent” comes from Latin *intelligens*, from *inter* (“between”) and *legere* (“to choose, read”), originally meaning someone who can ‘choose between’ or ‘discern’ things clearly. Over time it came to mean having a good mind or high mental ability.

Try spelling it

You will hear the word and a sentence. Type it and press Enter. Then four more words from the same level, so you know where you stand.

Words like this

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