ingenious

English

Alternative forms

• engenious (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French ingénieux, from Old French engenious, from Latin ingeniōsus (“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. See also engine.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈdʒiːnjəs/, /ɪnˈdʒiːniəs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːniəs
• Hyphenation: in‧ge‧nious

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 Thesaurus:witty
• See also Thesaurus:intelligent

Related terms

• engine
• engineer
• genius
• ingeniosity
• ingeniousness

 

Translations

displaying genius or brilliance; tending to invent

• Arabic: عَبْقَرِيّ‎ (ʿabqariyy)
• Bulgarian: изобретателен (bg) (izobretatelen), находчив (bg) (nahodčiv)
• Catalan: enginyós (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 有发明才能的

• Danish: opfindsomt
• Dutch: ingenieus (nl)
• Finnish: nerokas (fi)
• French: ingénieux (fr)
• German: ingeniös (de), genial (de)

• Greek: εφευρετικός (el) m (efevretikós)

  Ancient: εὑρετικός (heuretikós), εὐπάλαμος (eupálamos), φρενοτέκτων (phrenotéktōn)

• Hungarian: találékony (hu)
• Italian: ingegnoso (it)
• Polish: pomysłowy (pl) m
• Portuguese: engenhoso (pt)
• Romanian: cu iscusință, iscusit (ro), ingenios (ro)
• Russian: изобрета́тельный (ru) (izobretátelʹnyj), нахо́дчивый (ru) (naxódčivyj)
• Sanskrit: चतुर (sa) (catura)
• Scottish Gaelic: seòlta, teòma
• Spanish: ingenioso (es)

characterized by genius; cleverly done or contrived

• Arabic: عَبْقَرِيّ‎ (ʿabqariyy)
• Bulgarian: изкусен (bg) (izkusen)
• Catalan: enginyós (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 聪明的

• Czech: geniální (cs)
• Danish: opfindsomt
• Esperanto: genia
• Finnish: nerokas (fi)
• French: ingénieux (fr)

• Greek: μεγαλοφυής (el) m (megalofyís)

  Ancient Greek: εὐπάλαμος (eupálamos)

• Polish: pomysłowy (pl) m
• Portuguese: engenhoso (pt)
• Romanian: genial (ro)
• Russian: хитроу́мный (ru) (xitroúmnyj), оригина́льный (ru) (originálʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: seòlta, teòma

witty; original; shrewd; adroit; keen; sagacious

• Bulgarian: остроумен (bg) (ostroumen)
• Catalan: enginyós (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 热情的, 独创的

• Dutch: vernuftig (nl)

• Finnish: terävä (fi), nokkela (fi)
• Greek: πολυμήχανος (el) m (polymíchanos), δαιμόνιος (el) m (daimónios)
• Hungarian: leleményes (hu)
• Sanskrit: चतुर (sa) (catura)
• Scottish Gaelic: seòlta, teòma

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 Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} eadar-ghnàthach

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} ingenioso (es) (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