What does intuition mean?
Intuition is the ability to form an understanding or reach a conclusion without consciously working through evidence and reasoning. In ordinary use, it often suggests a sudden, felt sense that something is true, as when someone has an intuition about a person or situation. The word can also refer to the resulting insight itself, such as a designer's intuition for proportion, and in philosophy it denotes immediate apprehension that is not reached by explicit inference. Intuition is not necessarily unreliable: experienced people may possess patterns of knowledge too subtle to state, although it can also invite errors when emotion or bias shapes it. The term is distinct from instinct, which usually concerns an inherited impulse to act rather than an understanding. Trusting intuition is therefore most effective when it complements deliberate analysis, supplying a prompt that investigation can then test.
nounUnderstanding or knowledge arrived at without conscious reasoning, often based on experience, observation, or a sudden sense of certainty. It can also refer to a particular idea or belief perceived in this way.
- The faculty or power of understanding something without conscious reasoning.
- A particular insight, impression, or belief that is felt to be true without demonstrated proof.
"Her intuition told her that the offer was too good to be true."
"I had an intuition that something was wrong before I saw the damaged roof."
"The philosopher treated intuition as a form of immediate apprehension distinct from deliberate inference."
The plural is used for separate insights or impressions, while the uncountable form normally refers to the general faculty of knowing without conscious reasoning.
"Her intuitions about the team's motives proved unexpectedly accurate."
Intuition began with the idea of looking: its Latin ancestor means “perceived” or “seen.”
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does intuition come from?
The word entered English in the early 17th century from Latin intuitio, a term associated with looking at or perceiving. Latin intuitus means “seen” or “perceived” and comes from intueri, “to look at.” The modern sense developed from the idea of perception or immediate understanding, while related English words such as intuitive, intuitional, intuitionism, and intuitionist continue the same linguistic root.
Related word forms
How intuition is actually used
The word is neutral in register but often implies a sudden or unarticulated insight. In formal philosophy, it can refer to immediate apprehension that does not depend on explicit reasoning. “Gut feeling” is a more informal expression with a similar meaning.
Easily confused with intuition
Intuition is an understanding or conclusion reached without conscious reasoning, whereas instinct is an innate impulse to act in a particular way.