Genius
adj, noun, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 Someone possessing extraordinary intelligence or skill; especially somebody who has demonstrated this by a creative or original work in science, music, art, etc. countable
"She's a genius; she won a Nobel Prize at fifteen!"
- 2 unusual mental ability wordnet
- 3 Extraordinary mental capacity. uncountable
"Excuse, therefore, the shortcomings of genius under the sudorific influence of the summer solstice; for be assured that the vertical sun, however it may dulcify and mature cherries, plums, and other fruitful ‘plumpitudes,’ is by no means favorable to the development of intellectual products."
- 4 a natural talent wordnet
- 5 Inspiration, a mental leap, an extraordinary creative process. uncountable
"a work of genius"
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- 6 exceptional creative ability wordnet
- 7 The tutelary deity or spirit of a place or person. Roman, also, countable, figuratively
"and the genius of the place: the growing enthusiasm for codified standards in the Army and Navy"
- 8 someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field wordnet
- 9 someone who has exceptional intellectual ability and originality wordnet
- 1 Ingenious, brilliant, very clever, or original. informal
"What a genius idea!"
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"In general, it may be said that he is a genius in music."
Etymology
From Latin genius (“inborn nature; a tutelary deity of a person or place; wit, brilliance”), from gignō (“to beget, produce”), Old Latin genō, from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵenh₁-. Doublet of genio. See also genus and genie.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.