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
Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 23 Mar. 2026
And there are details on her life with her third husband, the polymath George Cooper.
—Whitney Friedlander, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2026
Previously the site has published excerpts and shorts from authors like Stephanie Wambugu, Erin Somers, and the late polymath, Joe Brainard.
—Literary Hub, 5 Mar. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for polymath
Noun
Mixed and mastered by Berlin polymath Rashad Becker, Silent Way maintains an underlying drive while exploring efflorescent top-line melodies and loops.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 23 Mar. 2026
And there are details on her life with her third husband, the polymath George Cooper.
—Whitney Friedlander, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2026
Previously the site has published excerpts and shorts from authors like Stephanie Wambugu, Erin Somers, and the late polymath, Joe Brainard.
—Literary Hub, 5 Mar. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for polymath
Recent Examples of Synonyms for polymath
Noun
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Kawamura has also given us a genuinely genius take on the waking existential crisis that is 21st century living.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
10 Apr. 2026
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Oprah Winfrey is feeling stronger than ever at 72, and her workout look doubles as a genius solution for navigating spring's in-between temperatures.—
Nicol Natale,
PEOPLE,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Soderbergh’s sly film asks what indeed constitutes great art and whether the answer lies in the eye of the beholder or in the erudite but not always reliable opinions from art criticism, art followers and the sometimes shallow artworld overall?—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
15 Apr. 2026
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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
Noun
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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
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While tech-literate consumers might navigate the pitfalls successfully, more vulnerable groups—such as the elderly or those less comfortable with technology—are left wide open to errors and exploitation.—
Arthur Zaczkiewicz,
Footwear News,
13 Apr. 2026
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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
Noun
-
Every version of Merlin the wizard, spanning an expansive gender spectrum.—
Jaclyn Cosgrove,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
-
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
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The class spans 55 scholarly disciplines and artistic fields, with fellows chosen from a pool of nearly 5,000 applicants.—
Harrison Jacobs,
ARTnews.com,
14 Apr. 2026
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However, these writings circulated largely within scholarly circles.—
Anna Piela,
The Conversation,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
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As one of the nation’s most consequential legal thinkers and scholars, Heather Gerken has long directed her fierce intellect toward defending free and fair elections, a strong civic architecture, and the rule of law.—
Elizabeth Alexander,
Time,
15 Apr. 2026
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The visit also draws attention to the North African origins of Augustine, who spent only five years in Italy but is often seen through a Eurocentric lens as one of the greatest Western thinkers of Christianity for his writings on truth, evil, creation and grace.—
Nicole Winfield,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The latest development in this relentless campaign is the Defense Department’s withdrawal of senior military leaders from academic programs at leading American universities.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
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Those changes will be contested, in math as in other academic disciplines wrestling with AI’s impact.—
Konstantin Kakaes,
Quanta Magazine,
13 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Polymath.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/polymath. Accessed 18 Apr. 2026.
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