ingenuity

noun

in·ge·nu·i·ty | \ ˌin-jə-ˈnü-ə-tē

, -ˈnyü-\

plural ingenuities

Definition of ingenuity

1a : skill or cleverness in devising or combining : inventiveness

b : cleverness or aptness of design or contrivance

2 : an ingenious device or contrivance

3 obsolete : candor, ingenuousness

Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about ingenuity

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Examples of ingenuity in a Sentence

She showed amazing ingenuity in finding ways to cut costs. It will take considerable ingenuity to fix these problems.

Recent Examples on the Web

Indeed, books about girls and women—about their voices, their dreams, their achievements, their vision, grit, guts, ingenuity, defiance, STEM-suitability—continue to flood the market. — Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, "Children’s Books: You’re Never Too Young to Take a Stand," 28 Dec. 2018 Additionally, the Sears kit home program showcased some ingenuity in turning a loss into a sales leader. — Patrick Sisson, Curbed, "How Sears Kit Homes changed housing," 16 Oct. 2018 That’s what captivated me the most, them being able to use their ingenuity to come up with creative solutions and out-of-the-box thinking. — Hadley Keller, House Beautiful, "What It's Really Like to Be a Designer on Trading Spaces," 11 Mar. 2019 Some credit should go to the team's ingenuity: Since deploying the opener for the first time on May 19, the Rays' staff has been the most productive in baseball. — Jack Dickey, SI.com, "Midseason Report Card: Red Sox, Yankees Continue to Control the AL East," 29 June 2018 Using nothing more than rocks, sticks, and their own ingenuity, these people managed to build tools, master fire, establish complex societies, domesticate dogs, and spread throughout nearly the entire globe. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "Ancient Humans May Have Practiced Ritual Finger Amputation," 5 Dec. 2018 The home’s sheetrock walls and open floor plan would require a certain amount of ingenuity to warm up. — Jennifer Fernandez, House Beautiful, "Nick Olsen Designed Every Room in This NYC Townhouse to Feel Like a Surprise," 6 Feb. 2019 Who knew a prehistoric concept could involve so much ingenuity? — Blake Bakkila, Good Housekeeping, "People Are Making DIY Halloween Costumes Out of Amazon Boxes — and They're Pretty Amazing," 22 Oct. 2018 Broussard acknowledges that artificial intelligence is the product of great effort and ingenuity. — Glenn C. Altschuler, Philly.com, "Meredith Broussard's 'Artificial Unintelligence': Against the fetish of the machine," 28 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ingenuity.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.