Better term for “intellectual jokes”

Question

What can you call a joke, pun, or anything funny that likely needs intelligence to get?

All I can come up with is intellectual jokes; is there another word for this? A one-word answer would be great.

Jolenealaska · Accepted Answer

I would call that cerebral humor. Dennis Miller is fairly cerebral.

Merriam Webster (above link) even uses that as an example usage of the word.

He's a very cerebral comedian.

bib · Answer

Consider highbrow humor. Oxford Online defines highbrow as

Scholarly or rarefied in taste

Mou某 · Answer

Wit

a natural aptitude for using words and ideas in a quick and inventive way to create humour: -ODE

Witty jokes usually need some intelligence to get (and make for that matter).

3 Answers