Word of the Day

: June 1, 2010

brainiac

noun BRAY-nee-ak

What It Means

: a very intelligent person

brainiac in Context

The company employs an army of geeky brainiacs who are devoted to providing the best in computer game graphics and technology.

Did You Know?

As Superman fans know, "Brainiac" was the superintelligent villain in the Action Comics series and its spin-offs. You don't need x-ray vision to see the connection here -- etymologists think Superman's brainy adversary was probably the inspiration for our term "brainiac." We didn't coin the term right away though. The comic-book series was launched in 1938, and the general use of "brainiac" was first recorded in print in 1982.