Brainiac

//ˈbɹeɪniæk// noun, slang

noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A very intelligent and usually studious, erudite person. derogatory, slang, sometimes

    "With all the brainiacs in the world ... you'd think somebody would come up with a sunblock for ice cream."

  2. 2
    someone who has exceptional intellectual ability and originality wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
geniusgeniusboffinbrainbrain surgeonbrainbox

Example

More examples

"With all the brainiacs in the world ... you'd think somebody would come up with a sunblock for ice cream."

Etymology

Blend of brain + maniac, with influence from ENIAC, the name of an early computer. The term was coined as the name of the fictional supervillain Brainiac in the Superman series and first appeared in Action Comics comic book #242 in July, 1958. By surface analysis, brainy + -ac.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.