mastermind

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary Jump to: navigation, search WOTD - 3 August 2009

Contents

English

Pronunciation

Noun

mastermind (plural masterminds)

  1. A person with an extraordinary intellect or skill that is markedly superior to his or her peers.
    • 2003 Steve Kemper, Chapter 2, Code Name Ginger: the Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen's Quest to Invent a New World, ISBN 1578516730, page 34:
      His first outside hire wasn't an electronics whiz or a mechanical mastermind, but a young industrial designer, a creature hitherto unknown at DEKA.
  2. A person responsible for the highest level of planning and execution of a major operation.
    • 2007 Mark S. Hamm, Chapter 6, Terrorism as Crime: from Oklahoma City to Al-Qaeda and Beyond, ISBN 0814736963, page 196:
      The first was with none other than Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM), mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

Verb

to mastermind (third-person singular simple present masterminds, present participle masterminding, simple past and past participle masterminded)

  1. To act in the role of mastermind.
    • 2007 Kevin Danaher et al., Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grassroots, ISBN 0977825361, page 136:
      It would later be revealed that the corporation contributed over a quarter of a million dollars to the effort—a whopping 93 percent of the total coffer—and hired a team of media and political experts to mastermind it.

Translations

to act as mastermind
  • Russian: руководить ru(ru), управлять ru(ru)

Anagrams

 

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