pseudointellectual

[ soo-doh-in-tl-ek-choo-uh l ]
/ ˌsu doʊˌɪn tlˈɛk tʃu əl /

noun

a person exhibiting intellectual pretensions that have no basis in sound scholarship.
a person who pretends an interest in intellectual matters for reasons of status.

adjective

of, relating to, or characterized by fraudulent intellectuality; unscholarly: a pseudointellectual book.

Origin of pseudointellectual

First recorded in 1935–40; pseudo- + intellectual

OTHER WORDS FROM pseudointellectual

pseu·do·in·tel·lec·tu·al·ly, adverb

Example sentences from the Web for pseudo-intellectual