Meanings
wunderkind1
plural wunderkinder · plural wunderkinds · alternative Wunderkind · alternative Wünderkind
- A child prodigy; a wonderchild.
Synonyms: boy wonder, golden boy, phenom, quiz kid, whiz kid, wonderboy, wonderchild, wonderkid
- A highly talented or gifted person, especially one who is successful at a young age.
When the verdict comes down, the transformation of the wunderkind founder of Theranos from black-clad genius to besuited milquetoast will be an integral part of the story.
2021 December 17, Vanessa Friedman, “The Verdict on the Elizabeth Holmes Trial Makeover”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 12 Apr 20222 more examples
Harriet Pappenheim, a psychotherapist at Park Avenue Relationship Consultants who wrote “For Richer or Poorer,” a 2006 book on money in marriage, said that the repercussions could be acute for Wall Street wunderkinds who define their identities through their job titles and the size of their bonuses.
2009 January 28, Ravi Somaiya, “It’s the Economy, Girlfriend”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2020The downfall of Austria’s onetime political Wunderkind put a spotlight on the cozy, sometimes corrupt, relationship between right-wing populists and parts of the news media.
2021 October 17, Katrin Bennhold, “Fake Polls and Tabloid Coverage on Demand: The Dark Side of Sebastian Kurz”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 08 Dec 2021Synonyms: brain, brain surgeon, brainbox, brainiac, deep thinker, Einstein, egghead, genius
Wunderkind2
plural Wunderkinder · plural Wunderkinds
- Alternative letter-case form of wunderkind.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA child prodigy; a wonderchild.
nounA highly talented or gifted person, especially one who is successful at a young age.
Origin
- GermanWunderkind
- Englishwunderkind
Unadapted borrowing from German Wunderkind, from Wunder (“wonder”) + Kind (“child”). Compare native wonderchild.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian ву́ндеркинд
- ву́ндеркинд (vúnderkind)highly talented person who is successful at a young age
Finnish ihmelapsi
- ihmelapsihighly talented person who is successful at a young age
German Wunderkind
- Wunderkindhighly talented person who is successful at a young age
Hungarian csodagyerek
- csodagyerekhighly talented person who is successful at a young age
Norwegian vidunderbarn
- vidunderbarnhighly talented person who is successful at a young age
Polish dziecko szczęścia, cudowne dziecko
- dziecko szczęściahighly talented person who is successful at a young age
- cudowne dzieckohighly talented person who is successful at a young age
Russian вундерки́нд
- вундерки́нд (vundɛrkínd)highly talented person who is successful at a young age
Cite this entry
wunderkind. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wunderkind
“wunderkind.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wunderkind. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wunderkind,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wunderkind.
Source: wunderkind on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.