Meaning

In normal usage, not much. The Oxford Oline Dictionary dictionary does a pretty good job of describing the differences.

In this case, it was a sutble backhanded compliment. Often, people who style themselves as "intellectuals" are not very intelligent, but they adopt an unwarranted air of superiority ... smug in their own closed world. Most truly intelligent people -- at least those with a small amount of wisdom -- try hard not to belittle others. Most are truly interested in learning more about others and the world. The person to whom this statement was addressed seemed uninterested in learning and wanted to validate his/her position by putting others down.

But remember, this was an inverted usage of intellectual -- the "make you look" is what flipped the meaning from a positive statement to a negative. You look like an intellectual, not you are a intellectual.