ingenuity

noun

in·​ge·​nu·​i·​ty ˌin-jə-ˈnü-ə-tē 

-ˈnyü-

plural ingenuities

1

a

: skill or cleverness in devising or combining : inventiveness

b

: cleverness or aptness of design or contrivance

2

: an ingenious device or contrivance

3

obsolete : candor, ingenuousness

Synonyms

• cleverness
• creativeness
• creativity
• imagination
• imaginativeness
• ingeniousness
• innovativeness
• invention
• inventiveness
• originality

Examples of ingenuity in a Sentence

She showed amazing ingenuity in finding ways to cut costs.

It will take considerable ingenuity to fix these problems.

Recent Examples on the Web

These steel bits that sheath the building represent a bit of architectural ingenuity. —Edward Keegan, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2025

There’s ingenuity in all creative aspects, from makeup to production design to sound and lighting. —Murtada Elfadl, Variety, 3 Feb. 2025

Working with this limitation seems to have unleashed even more ingenuity from the DeepSeek team. —Ambuj Tewari, The Conversation, 29 Jan. 2025

Compared to the Spider-Verse movies, there’s no wonderment at the visual ingenuity, and compared to X-Men ’97, there’s no ambitious subtext to be elevated to the surface. —Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1592, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Kids Definition

ingenuity

noun

in·​ge·​nu·​ity

ˌin-jə-ˈn(y)ü-ət-ē

plural ingenuities

1

: skill or cleverness in discovering, inventing, or planning

2

: an ingenious device