Meaning & use
intuition
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The ability to sense that something is true without working it out by careful thought.
Grammar: Uncountable here: trust your intuition.
Patterns
- intuition about something
- by intuition
Her intuition told her something was wrong.
He solved the puzzle by intuition.
Good managers often rely on intuition.
nouncountable
A particular feeling or idea you have without clear proof.
Grammar: Countable: have an intuition that.
Patterns
- an intuition that something is true
I had an intuition that the call was important.
Their intuitions about the market proved right.
She followed her intuition and turned back.
Word forms
| plural | intuitions |
|---|
Common combinations
- trust your intuition
- You should trust your intuition.
- follow intuition
- He followed his intuition and called her.
- female intuition
- Some people joke about female intuition.
- gut intuition
- Her gut intuition said to wait.
- rely on intuition
- Doctors rely on intuition and training.
Synonyms and how they differ
- instinct
- An inborn urge, especially in animals, while intuition may come from experience.
- hunch
- A weaker, less certain feeling, usually about one specific thing.
- insight
- A clear understanding reached after thought, not an instant feeling.
- gut feeling
- Informal and more emotional.
Opposites
Word family
- intuitive adjective
- based on intuition; easy to understand
- intuitively adverb
- in an intuitive way
- intuit verb
- to understand by intuition
Commonly confused: intuition or instinct?
intuition vs instinct
Instinct is natural behavior present from birth; intuition is a sense of knowing, often shaped by experience.
Practice
She had no proof, but her ___ told her the deal was risky.
Choose one answer.
Intuition is knowing without reasoned proof. Evidence, calculation and argument all imply reasoning or proof.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “intuition”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.