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. (of a person) Displaying genius or brilliance; inventive.

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

2. (of a thing) Characterized by genius; cleverly done or contrived.

   That is an ingenious model of the atom.

3. Witty; showing originality or sagacity
   • 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Francesca Carrara, volume 1, page 147:

     I have scarcely recovered the surprise of the ingenious question, before I meet another surprise in the still more ingenious answer

   Synonyms: shrewd, adroit, keen, sagacious

   He sent me an ingenious reply to 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
• Sicilian: strummintusu m
• Spanish: ingenioso (es)
• Swedish: finurlig (sv)

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
• Sicilian: strummintusu m
• Spanish: ingenioso (es)
• Swedish: finurlig (sv)

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)
• Russian: остроумный (ru) (ostroumnyj), оригинальный (ru) (originalʹnyj), затейливый (ru) (zatejlivyj), замысловатый (ru) (zamyslovatyj)
• Sanskrit: चतुर (sa) (catura)
• Scottish Gaelic: seòlta, teòma
• Spanish: ingenioso (es)

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

References

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