nous

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /naʊs/ UK /naʊs/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
practical intelligence or common sense; the mind or intellect

She had enough nous to spot the scam immediately.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · practical intelligence or... intellect mind reason sense gumption savvy acumen

Opposites

stupidity foolishness

Word family

Related forms noumenonnoetic

Etymology

A direct borrowing of Ancient Greek nous (Attic; Ionic noos), 'mind, intellect, reason'. The colloquial British sense 'common sense' arose later.

νοῦς Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

# nous

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** naʊs
**IPA (UK):** naʊs

## Meanings
1. practical intelligence or common sense; the mind or intellect

## Examples
- She had enough nous to spot the scam immediately.

## Synonyms
- intellect
- mind
- reason
- sense
- gumption
- savvy
- acumen

## Antonyms
- stupidity
- foolishness

## Related Forms
- noumenon
- noetic

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: νοῦς

## Etymology
A direct borrowing of Ancient Greek nous (Attic; Ionic noos), 'mind, intellect, reason'. The colloquial British sense 'common sense' arose later.

## AI Etymology
Nous is a direct borrowing of Ancient Greek nous (Attic; Ionic noos), 'mind, intellect, reason'. The colloquial British sense 'common sense' arose later. Important recorded forms include νοῦς (Ancient Greek). The current sense covers practical intelligence or common sense; the mind or intellect. The wider family includes related words such as noumenon and noetic.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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