ingenious

English

Alternative forms

• engenious

Etymology

From Latin ingeniosus (“endowed with good natural capacity, gifted with genius”), from ingenium (“innate or natural quality, natural capacity, genius”), from in (“in”) + gignere (“to produce”), Old Latin genere. Compare French ingénieux; see also engine.

Pronunciation

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• Rhymes: -iːniəs

Adjective

ingenious (comparative more ingenious, superlative most ingenious)

1. Displaying genius or brilliance; tending to invent.

   This fellow is ingenious; he fixed a problem I didn't even know I had.

2. Characterized by genius; cleverly done or contrived.

   That is an ingenious model of the atom.

3. Witty; original; shrewd; adroit; keen; sagacious.

   He sent me an ingenious reply for an email.

Usage notes

Do not confuse with ingenuous.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:witty
• See also Wikisaurus:intelligent

Related terms

engine engineer genius

ingeniosity ingeniousness

Translations

displaying genius or brilliance; tending to invent

• Catalan: enginyós (ca)
• Dutch: ingenieus (nl)
• Finnish: nerokas (fi)
• French: ingénieux (fr)
• German: ingeniös (de), genial (de)
• Greek: εφευρετικός (el) (efevretikós) m

  Ancient: φρενοτέκτων

• Hungarian: találékony (hu)
• Polish: pomysłowy (pl) m
• Portuguese: engenhoso (pt)
• Romanian: cu iscusință (ro), iscusit (ro), ingenios (ro)
• Scottish Gaelic: seòlta (gd), teòma (gd)
• Spanish: ingenioso (es)

characterized by genius; cleverly done or contrived

• Catalan: enginyós (ca)
• Czech: geniální (cs)
• Esperanto: genia (eo)
• Finnish: nerokas (fi)
• French: ingénieux (fr)

• Greek: μεγαλοφυής (el) (megalofyís) m
• Polish: pomysłowy (pl) m
• Portuguese: engenhoso (pt)
• Scottish Gaelic: seòlta (gd), teòma (gd)

witty; original; shrewd; adroit; keen; sagacious

• Catalan: enginyós (ca)
• Dutch: vernuftig (nl)
• Finnish: terävä (fi), nokkela (fi)

• Greek: πολυμήχανος (el) (polymíchanos) m, δαιμόνιος (el) (δaimónios) m
• Hungarian: leleményes (hu)
• Scottish Gaelic: seòlta (gd), teòma (gd)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Spanish: ingenioso (1-3)

References

• ingenious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• ingenious in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911