mastermind — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A person with an extraordinary intellect or skill that is markedly superior to their peers.

   Examples

   At long intervals some master-minds appeared, looking upon each advance in practical science as a retro-gradation in the true utility.

   His first outside hire wasn't an electronics whiz or a mechanical mastermind, but a young industrial designer, a creature hitherto unknown at DEKA.

2. A person responsible for the highest level of planning and execution of a major operation.

   Usage

   • idiomatic

   Examples

   The first was with none other than Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM), mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

   More examples (1)

   Prosecutors later suspected that Wang, chairman of Ciji Temple in Tainan's Syuejia District, was the mastermind behind the shootings, but the court acquitted him of the charge because of insufficient evidence.

Verb

1. To plan or execute (a project) in the role of mastermind.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   More examples (3)

   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.

   Travelling over the route today, it is well to remember the ongoing role of the Friends of the S&C and the work of the late Ron Cotton. He masterminded its revival, thereby reversing the role he had been given by BR to bring about its closure.

   Gray was soon replaced by Morgan McSweeney, who had masterminded Labour’s unexpectedly rapid post-Jeremy Corbyn renaissance, but was equally unsuited to the role, and whose primary legacy was the disastrous appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.

Noun

1. someone who creates new things

   Synonyms

   originatorconceiver

   Broader terms

   creator

2. someone who has exceptional intellectual ability and originality

   Synonyms

   geniusbrainbrainiacEinsteinwonder

   Broader terms

   intellectualintellect

   Examples

   Mozart was a child genius

   he's smart but he's no Einstein

Verb

1. plan and direct (a complex undertaking)

   Synonyms

   engineerdirectorganizeorganiseorchestrate

   Broader terms

   plan

   Examples

   he masterminded the robbery