intrigant
Very Low (C2+ level, rare/archaic)Literary, archaic, formal.
Definition
Meaning
A person who schemes or plots, especially in a secretive or underhanded way.
A person who engages in intricate, secret, or cunning schemes, often for personal gain or to manipulate a situation; a schemer or plotter, typically seen in political, social, or romantic contexts.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
In modern usage, 'schemer', 'plotter', or 'intriguer' are far more common. The noun 'intrigant' is largely obsolete, having been superseded by these more common synonyms. The related word 'intrigue' (as a noun or verb) is the standard modern form.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
The noun 'intrigant' is obsolete/archaic in both variants and essentially never used in contemporary writing. The concept is expressed with other words like 'schemer' or 'plotter'.
Connotations
If encountered, it carries a formal, literary, and often historical or continental European flavour, possibly hinting at courtly or political machinations.
Frequency
Extremely rare in both BrE and AmE. Its frequency is near zero in modern corpora.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[intrigant] of [place/group] (e.g., intrigants of the court)[adjective] intrigant (e.g., wily intrigant)Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “[No specific idioms use 'intrigant' due to its rarity]”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Virtually never used. A modern equivalent might be 'corporate schemer'.
Academic
Possibly encountered in historical or literary studies describing characters in older texts or historical figures, but the modern academic term would be 'intriguer' or 'plotter'.
Everyday
Never used in everyday conversation.
Technical
Not used in technical fields.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The ambassador was suspected of intriguing against the government.
- They intrigued to gain control of the company.
American English
- The lobbyists intrigued to block the legislation.
- He intrigued to get his rival fired.
adverb
British English
- [No standard adverbial form derived from 'intrigant']
American English
- [No standard adverbial form derived from 'intrigant']
adjective
British English
- The court's intrigant factions made governance impossible.
- She found his intrigant manner off-putting.
American English
- The intrigant political maneuvering was exposed by the press.
- An intrigant plot was uncovered within the organization.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- [Level too low for this word]
- [Level too low for this word]
- In the historical novel, the king was surrounded by intrigants seeking power.
- The film portrayed him as a cunning intrigant at the imperial court.
- The memoirs revealed the palace to be a nest of intrigants, each vying for the emperor's ear.
- As a master intrigant, his subtle manipulations shaped the outcome of the election without his name ever appearing in the reports.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of an INTRIGANT as someone IN TRIGgering ANTagonism through secret plans. It sounds like 'intrigue-ant', an ant involved in intrigue.
Conceptual Metaphor
POLITICS/COURT LIFE IS A THEATRE OF INTRIGUE (where the intrigant is an actor).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid direct calque from Russian 'интриган' in most modern English contexts. While it is a direct cognate, its usage is archaic. Use 'schemer', 'plotter', or 'intriguer' instead for natural modern English.
Common Mistakes
- Using 'intrigant' in contemporary speech or writing. Learners might assume it is the standard agent noun from 'intrigue', but the standard modern forms are 'intriguer' or simply 'someone who intrigues'.
Practice
Quiz
Which of the following is the MOST appropriate and modern synonym for the archaic noun 'intrigant'?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No, it is extremely rare and considered archaic or literary. The much more common words are 'schemer', 'plotter', or 'intriguer'.
They are synonyms, but 'intrigant' is of French origin and is now obsolete in English. 'Intriguer' is the standard, though still somewhat formal, agent noun derived from the verb 'intrigue'.
No. The verb form is 'intrigue'. 'Intrigant' is only a noun (and occasionally used as an adjective, though this is also rare).
A learner might encounter it in older literature or historical texts. Knowing it helps with comprehension and highlights how language evolves, showing that a direct translation from a cognate in another language (e.g., Russian, French, German) may not yield a natural modern English word.