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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variants
or polymathic
as in erudite
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Recent Examples of polymath
Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 25 Feb. 2026
In striving to be both a character study of a dissatisfied sommelier and a picaresque tale of ambition in São Paulo’s gentrified districts, director Gabe Klinger fails to land the emotional reality of his eponymous lead character, Isabel (the film‘s co-writer and Brazilian polymath, Marina Person).
—Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire, 16 Feb. 2026
From science fairs to college labs For someone whose work could transform medicine, Liu, 52, is understated — an introverted polymath driven by curiosity.
—Carolyn Y. Johnson, Washington Post, 7 Feb. 2026
Famous failures include Roger Moore, the suavest James Bond, and Stephen Fry, Britain’s most famous polymath.
—Big Think, 29 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for polymath
Noun
Among the iconic polymath’s many (many) achievements, the 15th century thinker is famous for devising an angled contraption to help his experiments exploring friction physics.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 25 Feb. 2026
In striving to be both a character study of a dissatisfied sommelier and a picaresque tale of ambition in São Paulo’s gentrified districts, director Gabe Klinger fails to land the emotional reality of his eponymous lead character, Isabel (the film‘s co-writer and Brazilian polymath, Marina Person).
—Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire, 16 Feb. 2026
From science fairs to college labs For someone whose work could transform medicine, Liu, 52, is understated — an introverted polymath driven by curiosity.
—Carolyn Y. Johnson, Washington Post, 7 Feb. 2026
Famous failures include Roger Moore, the suavest James Bond, and Stephen Fry, Britain’s most famous polymath.
—Big Think, 29 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for polymath
Recent Examples of Synonyms for polymath
Noun
-
Like nuclear-fission research, machine learning was a small scientific field with epochal implications which was dominated by a cadre of eccentric geniuses.—
Ronan Farrow,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
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Think compression packing cubes that help tame chaos, comfy sneakers for full days of walking, a polished matching set that multitasks, and genius travel accessories that keep everything organized.—
Chaise Sanders,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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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
-
Other guitar virtuosos might crave at least a little downtime between concluding a Las Vegas concert residency with one band and launching a national tour with another band, not but Joe Satriani.—
George Varga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
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Also appearing on the album are American composer Elliot Cole on synthesizer, French composer Benoit Rolland on electro-acoustics and Bangladeshi tabla virtuoso Mir Naqibul Islam.—
Arts Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The turbulence of the past year brings to mind the sourcing strain of the 2020 pandemic—and the ways companies became more legally literate almost overnight as a matter of survival.—
Kate Nishimura,
Sourcing Journal,
24 Mar. 2026
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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
Noun
-
Every version of Merlin the wizard, spanning an expansive gender spectrum.—
Jaclyn Cosgrove,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
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Daniel Bernhardt is Deathstalker, a legendary swordsman stuck with a cursed amulet who befriends swamp monsters and teams with a mini wizard (voiced by Patton Oswalt) to stop a dark magic from ruling the land.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Turner could not have known that his manifesto would define scholarly and popular understandings of American and western history for the next one hundred years.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
-
To be clear, there is little credible scholarly evidence that EdTech, in general, improves learning outcomes, and no conclusive evidence that generative AI improves learning outcomes over traditional human teaching.—
Dr. Timothy Scott,
Hartford Courant,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
His own trajectory — from outright banning student use to cautious skepticism to daily reliance — tracks the arc many serious thinkers have traveled.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
9 Apr. 2026
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Throughout the book, Enright’s essays shine a light in her work on Irish writers and thinkers of whom Americans might otherwise remain ignorant or only hold scant knowledge, including Maeve Brennan, John McGahern, and Edna O’Brien.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.—
Paul Sanchez Ruiz,
The Conversation,
6 Apr. 2026
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Employers report rising demands for creativity and critical analysis while simultaneously expressing frustration that traditional academic pathways aren’t developing those traits.—
Elan Gepner-Dales,
Rolling Stone,
6 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Polymath.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/polymath. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
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