prodigy

noun

prod·i·gy ˈprä-də-jē

plural prodigies

Synonyms of prodigy next

: a highly talented child or youth

: an extraordinary, marvelous, or unusual accomplishment, deed, or event

: something extraordinary or inexplicable

: a portentous event : omen

Did you know?

Is a prodigy a genius or a monster - or both? Nowadays, it's the talent that shines through, but back in the 15th century the word's meaning was more strongly influenced by that of its Latin ancestor, prodigium, meaning "omen" or "monster." Back then, a prodigy could be any strange or weird thing that might be an omen of things to come. Even in modern English, the word sometimes refers to an extraordinary deed or accomplishment. P.G. Wodehouse used that sense when he described how a character named Pongo Twistleton was "performing prodigies with the [billiard] cue."

Examples of prodigy in a Sentence

a new drug that is being hailed as the latest prodigy of the medical world

Recent Examples on the Web And so these complex, aging prodigies carefully tend their compound interest machine, a joint creation of two exceptional personalities. —

Matt Schifrin, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2023 On Monday, the 16-year-old rap prodigy announced the track list for his upcoming LP, out Friday, which features the likes of Peso Pluma and Nicki Nicole. —

Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 28 Nov. 2023 The plot concerns a rabbinic prodigy named Nahum, who falls in love with his father-in-law’s young wife and gets her pregnant. —

Adam Kirsch, The New Yorker, 27 Nov. 2023 Shortly after announcing that her new album Think Later will arrive Dec. 8 followed by a world tour next year, the 20-year-old pop prodigy — who’s also Billboard‘s latest cover star — doubled down on her love for Britney Spears‘ performance style in a recent interview with Rolling Stone. —

Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 17 Nov. 2023 The cycling prodigy was once romantically linked to Armstrong's then-boyfriend, Colin Strickland, a fellow professional cyclist, and was found shot hours after meeting up with him, police said. —

Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 16 Nov. 2023 First, there’s the pretty, quiet Paloma (Jennifer Trejo), a nascent math and science prodigy, who helps her ailing father (Gilberto Barraza) mine salable scrap metal from the smelly garbage dump near their makeshift home. —

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2023 The story follows a 12-year-old coding prodigy, who is recruited by an eccentric MI6 agent to join the City Spies, a team of kids from around the world who feel unnoticed in their own lives. —

Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 30 Oct. 2023 In the club’s years of plenty, an apparently endless supply of prodigies rattled off the Barcelona production line. —

Rory Smith, New York Times, 27 Oct. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'prodigy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.