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Mastermind vs Genius - What's the difference?

mastermind | genius |

As nouns the difference between mastermind and genius

is that mastermind is a person with an extraordinary intellect or skill that is markedly superior to his or her peers while genius is someone possessing extraordinary intelligence or skill; especially somebody who has demonstrated this by a creative or original work in science, music, art etc.

As a verb mastermind

is to act in the role of mastermind.

As an adjective genius is

ingenious, very clever, or original.

mastermind

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A person with an extraordinary intellect or skill that is markedly superior to his or her peers.
  • *1840 , (Edgar Allan Poe), ‘The Colloquy of Monos and Una’:
  • *:At long intervals some master-minds appeared, looking upon each advance in practical science as a retro-gradation in the true utility.
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year=2003 , author=Steve Kemper , title=Code Name Ginger: the Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen's Quest to Invent a New World , chapter=2 , isbn=1578516730 , page=34 , passage=His first outside hire wasn't an electronics whiz or a mechanical mastermind , but a young industrial designer, a creature hitherto unknown at DEKA.}}
  • A person responsible for the highest level of planning and execution of a major operation.
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year=2007 , author=Mark S. Hamm , title=Terrorism as Crime: from Oklahoma City to Al-Qaeda and Beyond , chapter=6 , isbn=0814736963 , page=196 , passage=The first was with none other than Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM), mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.}}

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To act in the role of mastermind.
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year=2007 , author=Kevin Danaher et al. , title=Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grassroots , isbn=0977825361 , page=136 , passage=It would later be revealed that the corporation contributed over a quarter of a million dollars to the effort—a whopping 93 percent of the total coffer—and hired a team of media and political experts to mastermind it.}}

    Anagrams

    *

    genius

    English

    (wikipedia genius)

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (informal) ingenious, very clever, or original.
    • What a genius idea!

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (eulogistic) Someone possessing extraordinary intelligence or skill; especially somebody who has demonstrated this by a creative or original work in science, music, art etc.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.}}
  • Extraordinary mental capacity.
  • Inspiration, a mental leap, an extraordinary creative process.
  • (Roman mythology) The guardian spirit of a place or person.
  • A way of thinking, optimizing one's capacity for learning and understanding.

    • Synonyms

    * See also

    Antonyms

    * idiot

    Related terms

    * engine * engineer * genie * ingenious * ingeniosity

    External links

    * * English nouns with irregular plurals ----