kongenial

German

Etymology

Learned formation from kon- +‎ genial, from Latin con- and genialis, respectively.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔnɡeˈni̯aːl/, /ˈkɔnɡeˌni̯aːl/, [kɔn.ɡe-], [kɔŋ.ɡe-], [-njaːl], [-ni.aːl]

• Audio (Austria):

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• Audio:

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• Hyphenation: kon‧ge‧ni‧al
• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

kongenial (not comparable)

1. equally brilliant; on the same mental or intellectual level

   Er war ein kongenialer Partner seines hervorragenden Chefs.

   He was an equally brilliant partner to his eminent boss.

   Das Buch verdankt seinen Erfolg auf dem deutschen Markt der kongenialen Übersetzung.

   The book owes its success on the German market to the equally brilliant translation.

Usage notes

• In some specific contexts, German kongenial and English congenial may overlap, but they must generally be considered false friends.

Synonyms

• ebenso brillant
• ebenso genial
• (geistig) ebenbürtig
• (geistig) gleichrangig
• geistesverwandt

Derived terms

• Kongenialität

See also

• kongenital

References

• “kongenial” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• Template:R:Canoo
• “kongenial” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Further reading

• “kongenial” in Duden online