Definition of ingenious
1 obsolete : showing or calling for intelligence, aptitude, or discernment
2 : having or showing an unusual aptitude for discovering, inventing, or contriving an ingenious detective
3 : marked by originality, resourcefulness, and cleverness in conception or execution an ingenious contraption
ingeniously
adverbingeniousness
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Examples of ingenious in a Sentence
How many dog-size bathrobes (an ingenious device) are out there? —David Colman, Vogue, April 2001
… spacecraft engineers tried to come up with ways to “unstick” the antenna. Those attempts failed, but by ingenious software and mission-sequencing techniques … the Galileo mission was still able to fulfill nearly all of its scientific requirements and return a rich quantity of scientific data … —Louis Friedman et al., Encyclopedia of the Solar System, 1999
… an ingenious method of checking errors … —W. David Gardner, Datamation, June 1982
The book has an ingenious plot.
She was ingenious at finding ways to work more quickly.
It was ingenious of him to arrange the schedule so precisely.
Recent Examples of ingenious from the Web
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What makes this book so radical—and thought-provoking—is its ingenious composition: fifty dart-like essays that shoot to the heart of an equal number of components of public health in the current age.
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Like going grocery shopping while hungry, passing up other ingenious furnishings will be a struggle. 78.
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Meanwhile, little critters like the ingenious Civic were waiting in the wings, ready to take over from the big-bodied Yankee dinosaurs.
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On a side note, Antheil’s ingenious way with mechanical objects got him inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014.
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The battery of percussion was there for a performance of Viktor Derivianko's ingenious arrangement of Shostakovich's Symphony No.
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A feisty heroine who drove an ambulance in France during World War I is the central character in this complex and ingenious novel about greed, dark secrets, and true love.
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Blockchain is the ingenious system of simultaneously updating electronic ledgers, developed for the pioneering bitcoin electronic currency, so users can verify transactions reliably and fast.
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Even his ingenious business council meetings are less a thing, and health care reform and other projects seem to be wandering around with no sense of direction.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ingenious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of ingenious
Middle English ingenyous, from Middle French ingenieus, from Latin ingeniosus, from ingenium natural capacity — more at engine
Synonym Discussion of ingenious
INGENIOUS Defined for English Language Learners
ingenious
playDefinition of ingenious for English Language Learners
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: very smart or clever : having or showing ingenuity
INGENIOUS Defined for Kids
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