Pseudo-intellectuals are people of average intelligence who are enchanted with highly intellectual topics and discussions such as philosophy, socioeconomics, destiny of humanity, etc.
Unlike a genuine academic, a pseudo-intellectual’s main reason for being interested in these topics is because it makes him feel intellectually superior to his peers. He usually despises main stream culture, accuses those who disagree with him as being ignorant, and when his ideas are challenged, he often retaliates with “That’s a straw man argument!”
Pseudo-intellectuals can often be found in political discussion boards on the internet, patronizing boutique shops, participating in various Anti-something rallies, sitting on a park’s bench during a weekend afternoon and playing a guitar, or spending eight consecutive years in college trying to earn a B.A degree in political science or philosophy.
Unlike a genuine academic, a pseudo-intellectual’s main reason for being interested in these topics is because it makes him feel intellectually superior to his peers. He usually despises main stream culture, accuses those who disagree with him as being ignorant, and when his ideas are challenged, he often retaliates with “That’s a straw man argument!”
Pseudo-intellectuals can often be found in political discussion boards on the internet, patronizing boutique shops, participating in various Anti-something rallies, sitting on a park’s bench during a weekend afternoon and playing a guitar, or spending eight consecutive years in college trying to earn a B.A degree in political science or philosophy.
Jim: Who is that asshole that sits in the back of the class in American History and pisses off the professor all the time?
Amy: Oh, that’s Mark. He’s one of those pseudo-intellectuals.
Amy: Oh, that’s Mark. He’s one of those pseudo-intellectuals.
by Edgardo February 02, 2007
Someone who uses flashy words and quotes from intellectuals to make them sound a bit more clever than they really are because they don't have original thoughts for themselves.
Also see: pretentious
Also see: pretentious
by Kelly Osbourne's Gimp April 25, 2005
1. Non-intellectuals who can at least keep up the appearance for fifteen minutes.
2. Cop-out postmodernists.
3. Critics.
2. Cop-out postmodernists.
3. Critics.
...After fifteen minutes over coffee discussing the qualities of Emerson's work as being original, he screamed in desperation: "There is nothing left to be original about! There is nothing original left! I see no value in anything because everything has already been thought!" He then made an effort to point out the flaws in a friend's poem and how she could improve it with synonyms and left in silence.
by heroin hiroshima May 02, 2005
pseudo-intellectual: hey, check out this self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.
you: you mean that SCUBA gear?
psuedo-intellectual: yeah, that.
you: you mean that SCUBA gear?
psuedo-intellectual: yeah, that.
by Rora47 July 27, 2012
Someone who pretends to be more intelligent than they are.
by louche22 September 11, 2012
4 signs of the pseudo-intellectual
1. Quoting
2. Going against common thought without evidence
3. Bringing up intellectualism in non-requistite situations
4. Un-neccersary use of verbs and adjectives with 4 syllables or more
1. Quoting
2. Going against common thought without evidence
3. Bringing up intellectualism in non-requistite situations
4. Un-neccersary use of verbs and adjectives with 4 syllables or more
Dude #1: hey wanna go to the movies tomorrow night?
Dude #2: Nah, the cinema is so low-brow. I don't understand how so many people find aesthetic values in it. I'm going home to read. As Descartes said "cogito, ergo sum".
Dude #1: Yeah....OK.
Dude #2: Nah, the cinema is so low-brow. I don't understand how so many people find aesthetic values in it. I'm going home to read. As Descartes said "cogito, ergo sum".
Dude #1: Yeah....OK.
by Simon Bee June 09, 2005
1. One who attempts to flex intellect that does not exist within his or her own mind.
2. Can probably be found with a thesaurus in hand, while in a chat room, looking up new insults that are synonymous with "stupid" in order to boost his or her own undeserved ego.
3. Typical cases of pseudo-intellectualism involve pre-pubescent 15 year olds that think they have everything figured out, including, but not limited to: life, religion, politics, education, and sex. Ironically, they have never quite experienced either of the aforementioned.
4. Pretends he or she has an opinion.
5. Posseses a severe tendency to blindly and wholeheartedly believe any bullshit they hear, only to subsequently regurgitate the misinformation to anyone they see in an asinine attempt to appear more intelligent than a used, broken condom.
6. Should the victim of the verbal onslaught happen to have a differing opinion, the pseudo-intellectual will revert to his or her thesaurus and insult the opposition with words he or she never knew existed, and probably cannot even pronounce.
7. Annoyingly and constantly refers to the word antidisestablishmentarianism, as if knowledge of said word defined his or her illegitimately high intelligence quotient.
8. Typically a hypocrite; creates many, many contradictions. Most online grammar/spelling Nazis can relate.
9. Always ends a bullshit "argument" with, "I win, so stfu." Win what, dipshits? Your opinions weren't fact in the first place.
2. Can probably be found with a thesaurus in hand, while in a chat room, looking up new insults that are synonymous with "stupid" in order to boost his or her own undeserved ego.
3. Typical cases of pseudo-intellectualism involve pre-pubescent 15 year olds that think they have everything figured out, including, but not limited to: life, religion, politics, education, and sex. Ironically, they have never quite experienced either of the aforementioned.
4. Pretends he or she has an opinion.
5. Posseses a severe tendency to blindly and wholeheartedly believe any bullshit they hear, only to subsequently regurgitate the misinformation to anyone they see in an asinine attempt to appear more intelligent than a used, broken condom.
6. Should the victim of the verbal onslaught happen to have a differing opinion, the pseudo-intellectual will revert to his or her thesaurus and insult the opposition with words he or she never knew existed, and probably cannot even pronounce.
7. Annoyingly and constantly refers to the word antidisestablishmentarianism, as if knowledge of said word defined his or her illegitimately high intelligence quotient.
8. Typically a hypocrite; creates many, many contradictions. Most online grammar/spelling Nazis can relate.
9. Always ends a bullshit "argument" with, "I win, so stfu." Win what, dipshits? Your opinions weren't fact in the first place.
<Pseudo-Intellectual> Omg. You are Stupid. You are an idiot for not agreeing with everything I say. I know I'm right, even though I know nothing about the subject, because my friend knows someone that read someone's blog somewhere that mentioned something about it. I win, so stfu, you unintelligent moron. God, your stupid. You're such a stupid idiot. Antidisestablishmentarianism.
<Pseudo-Intellectual has signed off>
<Pseudo-Intellectual has signed off>
by ohfukmeh September 14, 2004