How to spell intelligent

hear itin·tel·li·gent/ɪn'tɛlɪdʒənt/adjectiveSilent and tricky

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. Often misspelled as inteligent or intilligent.

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.

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa)

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

independent · excellent · psalm · moisten · balance · account · object · everyone

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