Intellectual vs Esoteric - What's the difference?
intellectual | esoteric | Related terms |
Belonging to, or performed by, the intellect; mental or cognitive; as, intellectual powers, activities, etc.
Endowed with intellect; having the power of understanding; having capacity for the higher forms of knowledge or thought; characterized by intelligence or mental capacity; as, an intellectual person.
Suitable for exercising the intellect; formed by, and existing for, the intellect alone; perceived by the intellect; as, intellectual employments.
Relating to the understanding; treating of the mind; as, intellectual philosophy, sometimes called "mental" philosophy.
(archaic, poetic) Spiritual.
* 1805 , William Wordsworth, The Prelude , Book II, lines 331-334 (eds. Jonathan Wordsworth, M. H. Abrams, & Stephen Gill, published by W. W. Norton & Company, 1979):
An intelligent, learned person, especially one who discourses about learned matters.
(archaic) The intellect or understanding; mental powers or faculties.
intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest, or an enlightened inner circle.
Having to do with concepts that are highly theoretical and without obvious practical application; often with mystical or religious connotations.
Confidential; private.
As adjectives the difference between intellectual and esoteric
is that intellectual is belonging to, or performed by, the intellect; mental or cognitive; as, intellectual powers, activities, etc while esoteric is intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest, or an enlightened inner circle.As a noun intellectual
is an intelligent, learned person, especially one who discourses about learned matters.intellectual
Alternative forms
* intellectuall (obsolete)Adjective
(en adjective)- I deem not profitless those fleeting moods / Of shadowy exultation; not for this, / That they are kindred to our purer mind / And intellectual life ...
Antonyms
* non-intellectualDerived terms
* anti-intellectual * intellectual capital * intellectual disability * intellectual honesty * intellectuality * intellectual journey * intellectual property * intellectual rights * organic intellectualNoun
(en noun)Derived terms
* public intellectualSee also
* intelligentsia * egghead * nerd * geek * highbrowesoteric
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- ''The writing in this manual is very esoteric ; I need a degree in engineering just to understand it!