Meanings
comparative more dianoetic · superlative most dianoetic
- Pertaining to reason or thinking; intellectual.
The bitter laugh laughs at that which is not good, it is the ethical laugh. The hollow laugh laughs at that which is not true, it is the intellectual laugh. Not good! Not true! Well well. But the mirthless laugh is the dianoetic laugh, down the snout — Haw! — so.
1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLCSynonyms: discursive
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivePertaining to reason or thinking; intellectual.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveproceeding to a conclusion by reason or argument rather than intuition
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekδιανοητικός“pertaining to thinking”
- Englishdianoetic
From Ancient Greek διανοητικός (dianoētikós, “pertaining to thinking”), from διανοητός (dianoētós), verbal adjective of διανοέομαι (dianoéomai, “to think”), from δια- (dia-, “through”) + νοέω (noéō, “to think, suppose”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek διανοητικός
- διανοητικός (dianoētikós)pertaining to reason or thinking; intellectual
Greek διανοητικός
- διανοητικός (dianoïtikós)pertaining to reason or thinking; intellectual
Italian dianoetico
- dianoeticopertaining to reason or thinking; intellectual
Russian дискурсивный
- дискурсивный (diskursivnyj)pertaining to reason or thinking; intellectual
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
dianoetic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dianoetic
“dianoetic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dianoetic. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dianoetic,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dianoetic.
Source: dianoetic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.