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Mastermind vs Masterpiece - What's the difference?

mastermind | masterpiece |

As nouns the difference between mastermind and masterpiece

is that mastermind is a person with an extraordinary intellect or skill that is markedly superior to his or her peers while masterpiece is a piece of work that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career.

As a verb mastermind

is to act in the role of mastermind.

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

    *

    masterpiece

    English

    (wikipedia masterpiece)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A piece of work that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career.
  • * 1911 , (Saki), The Chronicles of Clovis
  • *:The design, when finally developed, was a slight disappointment to Monsieur Deplis, who had suspected Icarus of being a fortress taken by Wallenstein in the Thirty Years' War, but he was more than satisfied with the execution of the work, which was acclaimed by all who had the privilege of seeing it as Pincini's masterpiece .
  • A work of outstanding creativity, skill or workmanship.
    • Masterpieces are not completed, they are abandoned.
  • A work created in order to qualify as a master craftsman and member of a guild.

    • Synonyms

    * * masterwork