: showing or suggesting great cleverness, skill, or originality : brilliant
Remember how genius Henry Winkler was on Arrested Development?Entertainment Weekly
"I think Lindsey Buckingham's guitar playing is genius, and Stevie Nicks' voice is really unusual." Justin Hawkins
As "genius" as the New York raver kids may be, it's in Britain that the mixing of fashion and club music in the nineties is at its most exciting.Vogue
Did you know?
The Spiritual Origins of Genius
The belief system of the ancient Romans included spirits that were somewhere in between gods and humans and were thought to accompany each person through life as a protector. The Latin name for this spirit was genius, which came from the verb gignere, meaning "to beget." This sense of "attendant spirit" was first borrowed into English in the 14th century. Part of such a spirit's role was to protect a person's moral character, and from that idea an extended sense developed in the 16th century meaning "an identifying character." In time, that meaning was extended to cover a special ability for doing something, and eventually genius acquired senses referring particularly to "very great intelligence" and "people of great intelligence."
knack implies a comparatively minor but special ability making for ease and dexterity in performance.
the knack of getting along
Example Sentences
Noun Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton were great scientific geniuses. You don't have to be a genius to see that this plan will never work. He was a genius at handling the press. She's now widely recognized as an artist of genius. He's admired for his comic genius. My plan is simple—that's the genius of it. The genius of these new computers is their portability. See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Owning a work made by a genius induces a feeling of connection—to something pure, and, perhaps, to the purer part of ourselves. Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2022 Following Norm’s death, Kyle Smith and Daniel Tenreiro wrote (as did former NR staffer Teddy Kupfer) eloquently on the man’s life and genius. Luther Ray Abel, National Review, 17 Sep. 2022 But even someone who knows nothing about tennis could watch Federer and see the artistry and genius at play. Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 16 Sep. 2022 Liszt worshipped Chopin as a genius, but his love was not returned. Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Aug. 2022 The show entailed a fictional character named Dr. Gregory House that was gruff, insufferable, and quite unconventional, yet he was portrayed as a medical genius that could ferret out the most obscure of diseases and ailments. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 3 Aug. 2022 And don't forget that vegetables are great for stuffing, too—from main dishes, like these Salmon-Stuffed Zucchini Boats, to side dishes, such as these genius Stuffed Baked Tomatoes with Herbs. Sheena Chihak, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 July 2022 It could have been seen as genius or as, who cares? Alan Light, WSJ, 7 June 2022 Released this week, the third chapter of jeen-yuhs crystalizes the myth of Kanye West as a creative genius stifled by a society that refuses to accept him. Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Latin, tutelary spirit, natural inclinations, from gignere to beget