1
as in inventive
having the skill and imagination to create new things
an ingenious but rather eccentric inventor
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in clever
showing a noteworthy use of the imagination and creativity especially in inventing
a chair that can't tip over is quite ingenious
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Recent Examples of ingenious
That premise is pretty much the beginning and end of the similarities between Curtiz’s film and Jordan and Mamet’s, which introduces the ingenious idea of De Niro and Penn having to pose as traveling priests to hide out from the law.
—
Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 31 July 2025
Its ingenious design used a monocoque chassis and a transverse four-cylinder engine with the transmission relocated in the sump.
—Tim Pitt, Robb Report, 30 July 2025
Scientists have found a new way to cheat the system – which is both ingenious and disturbing.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 12 July 2025
If someone discovers an ingenious algorithm for rapidly solving the hardest NP problems, the bedrock will crumble, and the whole tower will collapse.
—Ben Brubaker, Quanta Magazine, 25 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for ingenious
Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 31 July 2025
Its ingenious design used a monocoque chassis and a transverse four-cylinder engine with the transmission relocated in the sump.
—Tim Pitt, Robb Report, 30 July 2025
Scientists have found a new way to cheat the system – which is both ingenious and disturbing.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 12 July 2025
If someone discovers an ingenious algorithm for rapidly solving the hardest NP problems, the bedrock will crumble, and the whole tower will collapse.
—Ben Brubaker, Quanta Magazine, 25 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for ingenious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ingenious
Adjective
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Last year, fans and critics alike cheered on three inventive and ubiquitous pop stars: Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, and Charli XCX.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
25 Aug. 2025
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This gorgeous and much-acclaimed movie—the inventive animation, which was meant to closely mimic the look of a comic book, earned it the Best Animated Feature award at the 2018 Oscars—is an easy family movie night win, especially for those with tweens and young teens.—
Miranda Rake,
Parents,
21 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The most memorable of those came against Sheffield United, with two blockers at the near post (marked in white) and two runners from deep (black) allowing Pascal Struijk (yellow) to score from Joe Rothwell’s clever corner.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
21 Aug. 2025
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The result is a hollow movie—but its very hollowness gives rise to a diabolical twist that’s more than merely clever.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
21 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Using an innovative analytical technique, the Grenoble team measured the chemical composition in melt inclusions trapped within 3.3-billion-year-old olivine crystals recovered from fossil lava of the Weltevreden-Formation in South Africa.—
David Bressan,
Forbes.com,
31 Aug. 2025
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The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District is leading the way with innovative solutions, including green infrastructure programs, that are designed to combat these issues.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Washington’s invigorating performance goes far beyond charisma and technique to enrich the role with an imaginative repertory of seemingly spontaneous gestures: a chilling series of gun-pointing fingers when in doubt; the removal of a diamond earring at a point of financial need.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
15 Aug. 2025
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Spark’s new boss was a wildly imaginative and very demanding foreign correspondent of Falstaffian proportions named Sefton Delmer.—
Judith Shulevitz,
The Atlantic,
10 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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As for the project’s quick turnaround amid her ongoing Short n’ Sweet Tour, Carpenter simply chose to follow her creative instincts while ignoring typical music industry guidance to space out albums with at least a few years.—
Chris Malone Méndez,
Forbes.com,
30 Aug. 2025
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The poet Allen Grossman (MacArthur Fellow, author of the moving collection, The Bright Nails Scattered on the Ground: Love Poems, among at least twenty or so other books) lectured and wrote about creative impulses and sources.—
Douglas Unger
August 29,
Literary Hub,
29 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ingenious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ingenious. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.
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