Word.ws English Dictionary

intellectualise

intellectualise is the non-Oxford British English standard spelling of intellectualize.

Meaning of intellectualize

Verb

intellectualize (third-person singular simple present intellectualizes, present participle intellectualizing, simple past and past participle intellectualized)

  1. (transitive) To treat in an intellectual manner; to discuss or express intellectually.
    • Sentiment is intellectualized emotion.1867, James Russell Lowell, Rousseau and the Sentimentalists
  2. (transitive) To endow with intellect; to bestow intellectual qualities upon; to cause to become intellectual.
  3. (US, transitive) To find a seemingly rational explanation for.
    1. (US, transitive) To use (excessive) reasoning and rationalization to block out emotional stress and anxiety associated with painful or traumatic experiences.

Forms of intellectualise

third-person singular presentintellectualises
present participleintellectualising
past participleintellectualised
pastintellectualised

Questions about intellectualise

What is intellectualise the non-Oxford British English standard spelling of?
Intellectualise is the non-Oxford British English standard spelling of intellectualize.

Words near intellectualise in the dictionary

  1. intellectual property
  2. intellectual prostitute
  3. intellectual prostitutes
  4. intellectualisation
  5. intellectualisations
  6. intellectualise
  7. intellectualised
  8. intellectualiser
  9. intellectualisers
  10. intellectualises
  11. intellectualish

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: intellectualise (page history and authors); intellectualize (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “intellectualise.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/intellectualise. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.