as in genius
formal
someone who knows a lot about many different things
She is rightly regarded as something of a polymath in her extensive knowledge of all the earth sciences.
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Dissimilar Words
variants
or polymathic
as in erudite
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of polymath
Big Think, 29 Jan. 2026
Joseph, who designs educational games and co-founded the Games for Change Festival, is a polymath himself.
—Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2025
One of the world’s first calculators, devised in 1642 by the French polymath Blaise Pascal, was pulled from auction — at least for now.
—Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 20 Nov. 2025
O’Dell — producer, director, full-time nightlife polymath.
—Merle Ginsberg, HollywoodReporter, 18 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for polymath
Noun
Famous failures include Roger Moore, the suavest James Bond, and Stephen Fry, Britain’s most famous polymath.
—Big Think, 29 Jan. 2026
Joseph, who designs educational games and co-founded the Games for Change Festival, is a polymath himself.
—Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2025
One of the world’s first calculators, devised in 1642 by the French polymath Blaise Pascal, was pulled from auction — at least for now.
—Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 20 Nov. 2025
O’Dell — producer, director, full-time nightlife polymath.
—Merle Ginsberg, HollywoodReporter, 18 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for polymath
Recent Examples of Synonyms for polymath
Noun
-
To maximize carry-on space, take a look at this genius, stuffable travel pillow that can hold up to an extra three days’ worth of clothes (without checking a bag).—
Kristin Braswell,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Mar. 2026
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The young musical genius requested four notes from the audience and spent just a minute crafting an intricate fugue on the spot using those four notes as a theme.—
Sal Pizarro,
Mercury News,
7 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The dazzlingly witty and erudite script, by Robert Kaplow, is nominated for Best Original Screenplay; Hawke, who is rightly nominated for Best Actor, delivers one of his richest and most surprising performances.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
11 Mar. 2026
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Enrigue is an erudite, charismatic raconteur—the sort who will tell you the most abject story with a wink—and his novel distills a byzantine swirl of historical events through the lives of a handful of very colorful characters.—
Carolina A. Miranda,
The Atlantic,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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But this is why, like any virtuoso, there is an undeniable continuity of his work.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
9 Mar. 2026
-
Abdul-Jabbar, the low-post virtuoso who made more than 50% of his shots in 19 straight seasons to start his career, attempted only 28,307 field goals – and just 18 of them were 3-pointers after the shot was introduced to the league midway through his career.—
Oc Register,
Oc Register,
6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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With the help of her best friend Tatum (Rose McGowan), boyfriend Billy (Skeet Ulrich), and cine-literate nerds Randy (Jamie Kennedy) and Stu (Matthew Lillard), Sidney sets out to determine who’s behind the mask.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
3 Mar. 2026
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My grandmother, who was the only literate one in our family, would write strange musings.—
Caterina De Biasio,
Vogue,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Radcliffe played the titular wizard Harry Potter in the beloved franchise, while Felton portrayed Potter's nemesis Draco Malfoy.—
Yi-Jin Yu,
ABC News,
6 Mar. 2026
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The wizard responsible for this remarkable bit of time travel is production designer Alex DiGerlando, who happens to have some first-hand memories of the period from attending NYU during in the 1990s.—
Benjamin Svetkey,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Leslie Hairston, a former City Council colleague of Preckwinkle’s whose South Side ward abutted hers, said Preckwinkle’s scholarly disposition shouldn’t be mistaken for indifference.—
A.D. Quig,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Mar. 2026
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Specifically, the study found the PATM patients emitted more petrochemicals, organosulfur compounds, and some aldehydes (including 39 times the normal amount of toluene, a chemical found in crude oil), among other distinctions—findings published in the scholarly journal Scientific Reports in 2023.—
Caroline Tien,
SELF,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Both are analytical tennis thinkers.—
Douglas Robson,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
-
Turner assembles a kaleidoscope of archival footage, performance clips, still photography, and interviews with his Arkestra members and contemporary thinkers who map Sun Ra’s long cultural afterlife.—
Lisa Wong Macabasco,
Vogue,
5 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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For professionals who work with contracts, reports, invoices, or academic documents, PDF Agile consolidates essential PDF functions into a single lifetime license without ongoing subscription fees.—
StackCommerce Team,
PC Magazine,
9 Mar. 2026
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They are left scarred and live on quietly together as their academic careers fall apart.—
Meg Walters,
Glamour,
9 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Polymath.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/polymath. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
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