genius

Pluralgeniuses, genii

1. 1
   brilliant personnouncountable

   A person of extraordinary intelligence or skill, especially one who has shown it through original or creative work in science, music, or art.

   Mozart is remembered as a musical genius who composed symphonies as a child.

   Only a true genius could have unified those two branches of physics.

   UsageThe plural is geniuses. Say a genius at chess or with numbers.

   Similarprodigy, virtuoso, mastermind, maestro, brain

   Oppositeidiot

   Note

   Engels drew the classic line between genius and mere talent when he wrote of Marx in Ludwig Feuerbach: "Marx was a genius; we others were at best talented." The contrast is a useful one, since genius is felt as a difference in kind. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Engels distinguished Marx's genius from his collaborators' talent in Ludwig Feuerbach. gutenberg.org
2. 2
   great talentnoununcountable

   Exceptional natural ability to think or create, or the brilliant inspiration that shows it.

   Even as a young child, she showed a genius for mathematics that astonished her teachers.

   Critics repeatedly praised the genius of the composer's later works.

   UsageNo article in a man of genius, but a genius for something takes one.

   Similartalent, gift, brilliance, flair

   Note

   The narrator of the American novelist Winston Churchill's The Celebrity (1897) saw in his friend "no evidences of genius whatsoever." The Latin source meant "inborn nature," from gignō, "to beget," kin to genus, which is why genius is felt as inborn rather than learned. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

   • Winston Churchill was an American novelist. en.wikipedia.org
   • Winston Churchill wrote The Celebrity. gutenberg.org
   • The first edition is dated 1898. Sources report actual release in 1897, but 1898 is the year under the requested title-page convention. en.wiktionary.org
   • The narrator describes his friend using the exact words quoted. gutenberg.org
   • Genius comes from Latin genius, meaning 'inborn nature', derived from gignō, 'to beget'. en.wiktionary.org
   • Genius is etymologically related to genus. en.wiktionary.org
3. 3
   ingeniousadjectivecolloquial

   Remarkably clever, ingenious, or original, used to praise an idea or solution as brilliantly smart.

   Folding the map that way was a genius solution to the space problem.

   Everyone agreed that her marketing strategy was genius.

   UsageWorks before a noun (a genius idea) or after a verb (it was genius), and compares with more.

   Similarbrilliant, ingenious, clever, inspired, smart

   Oppositestupid, dumb, idiotic

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