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As Superman fans know, Brainiac was the superintelligent villain in the Action Comics series and its spin-offs. His name is a portmanteau of brain and maniac. (For those who believe it comes from a 1950s "computer kit," fly here, but come back.) You don't need x-ray vision to see the connection here—etymologists think Superman's brainy adversary is the likely inspiration for the common noun brainiac. The term was not coined right away though. The comic-book series was launched in 1938 and the character Brainiac debuted in 1956, but current evidence doesn't show general use of brainiac to refer to a superintelligent person until the 1970s.
Examples of brainiac in a Sentence
James Poniewozik, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
Can’t outfox the foxes Parrots and corvids have reputations as the brainiacs of the bird world.
—John Timmer, Ars Technica, 27 Jan. 2023
Pop culture brainiacs, get excited — a new way to watch PEOPLE Puzzler is just around the corner.
—Kimberlee Speakman, Peoplemag, 24 Aug. 2023
Tech brainiacs specializing in artificial intelligence are commanding salaries of $900K, the Wall Street Journal recently reported.
—Robert Gavin, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Aug. 2023
That was before the state became better known for brainiacs huddled in labs than workers toiling on assembly lines.
—Robert Weisman, BostonGlobe.com, 13 July 2023
As Augie’s teenage brainiac son, Woodrow (Jake Ryan), starts to fall for Dinah (Grace Edwards), a 15-year-old botany wizard, Augie falls for her mother, Hollywood actress Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson).
—Wes Anderson Has Gone Mad, Vulture, 16 June 2023
The bulk of the movie takes place in 1955 in the remote fictional desert town of Asteroid City, the site of the annual Junior Stargazers convention honoring a bunch of teenage brainiacs.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 June 2023
And in the series finale of Never Have I Ever, the intrepid brainiac Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) is ready to end her time at Sherman Oaks High drama and virginity-free and say hello to boys and her dream college: Princeton.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 10 June 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'brainiac.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Brainiac.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brainiac. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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