genius

plural geniuses · plural genii

1. countableSomeone possessing extraordinary intelligence or skill; especially somebody who has demonstrated this by a creative or original work in science, music, art, etc.

   She's a genius; she won a Nobel Prize at fifteen!

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   Marx stand höher, sah weiter, überblickte mehr und rascher als wir andern alle. Marx war ein Genie, wir andern höchstens Talente.

   1962 [1888, 1886], Friedrich Engels, chapter IV, in Ludwig Feuerbach und der Ausgang der klassischen deutschen Philosophie (Marx-Engels-Werke; 21), page 292; English translation from Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy (Marx/Engels Collected Works; 26), translation of original in German, 1990, page 382

   Antonyms: idiot

2. uncountableExtraordinary mental capacity.

   In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

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   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.

   1853, Whirligig, quotee, edited by William Kidd, Kidd’s Own Journal; for Inter-Communications on Natural History, Popular Science, and Things in General, volume IV, number 8, London: William Spooner, […]; Richard Groombridge and Sons, […], page 124, column 2

3. uncountableInspiration, a mental leap, an extraordinary creative process.

   a work of genius

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   to add a dash of cinnamon amid such umami was pure genius

4. Romanalsocountablefigurativelyhuman sciencesThe tutelary deity or spirit of a place or person.

   and the genius of the place: the growing enthusiasm for codified standards in the Army and Navy

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   We talk of genius still, but with thought how changed! The genius of Augustus was a tutelary demon, to be sworn by and to receive offerings on an altar as a deity.

   1715, Edward Burnett Tylor, Primitive Culture

   An old sinner, in shape of a khansamah, is the genius of the place, and has rarely aught else to tempt the tired traveller with than a “sudden death”—a fowl caught running in the yard, and dished up forthwith; […]

   1866, Frederick F. Wyman, From Calcutta to the Snowy Range, page 330

   Synonyms: tutelary deity, spirit, liqueur, liquor, apparition, specter, vision

comparative more genius · superlative most genius

1. informalIngenious, brilliant, very clever, or original.

   What a genius idea!

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   Bjarte Birkeland asserts that the reason why Nynorsk writers of fiction have succeeded in coming so close to naked life is not that they are more genius than authors writing in Bokmal, but that they are using their mother tongue

   2002, Oskar Bandle, Lennart Elmevik, Gun Widmark, The Nordic Languages: An International Handbook of the North Germanic Languages, volume 1, page 466

   We all know how genius “Kamp Krusty,” “A Streetcar Named Marge,” “Homer The Heretic,” “Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie” and “Mr. Plow” are, but even the relatively unheralded episodes offer wall-to-wall laughs and some of the smartest, darkest, and weirdest gags ever Trojan-horsed into a network cartoon with a massive family audience.

   2012 May 20, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Marge Gets A Job” (season 4, episode 7; originally aired 11/05/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 26 May 2012

   But Vahul was more genius than Rishi.

   2019, Iswarya Somasundaram, Research the Treasure, page 64

   She said the writing for these products “is very genius” because it's carefully done.

   2022 August 2, Wanda Sutherland, “Dangers of vaping: Teen use of e-cigarettes considered epidemic”, in Elk Valley Times