Gifted might just mean top 10% of society. Which means that if you're in the 10th percentile there are still very many people who are more intelligent than you.

Gifted might just mean top 10% of society. Which means that if you're in the 10th percentile there are still very many people who are more intelligent than you. Further, for any given field of expertise, you'll still bump into people who can intellectually wipe the floor with you (in their topic of expertise) unless you stick around and learn enough to surpass them. Additionally, a lot of people mistake learned knowledge or implicit social values for intelligence, and so it can take a long time in a new environment to be able to actually demonstrate to anyone that you're intelligent. I know this isn't the primary point of your comment, but it can quite easy to not feel very intelligent in a lot circumstances.