Exceptional intellectual or creative power, or the quality in a solution that shows it.
Reach for it when praising rare originality and insight only when ordinary skill is not enough
The design's genius lies in making every repair possible with common tools.
| playful | |
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| warm | |
| professional | |
| formal |
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| literary |
playful
wizardry
Fits when technical skill seems delightfully astonishing
Careful Wizardry is informal and can obscure the learnable work behind the result.
warm
Fits when striking intelligence is visible in an idea or performance
Careful Brilliance can be momentary and does not establish the rare capacity implied by genius.
warm
Fits when natural talent is being praised affectionately
Careful Gift is gentler and can refer to one narrow ability.
professional
Fits when clever practical invention solves a difficult constraint
Careful Ingenuity fits one solution better than a person's overall intellectual power.
professional
Fits when deep command has been earned through practice
Careful Mastery is developed expertise, while genius often suggests exceptional originality.
professional
Fits when novel thought matters more than raw intelligence
Careful Originality alone can produce eccentric work that is not useful or wise.
formal
intellect
Fits when reasoning power is the precise subject
Careful Intellect names mental capacity without rating it as exceptional.
literary
Fits when the person sees a valuable future others missed
Careful Vision concerns direction and may exist without the ability to execute.
creative genius
Her creative genius appeared in structures that children could rebuild themselves.
stroke of genius
Reusing the old foundation was a stroke of genius that cut both cost and waste.
engineering genius
The bridge's engineering genius is visible in its simple inspection points.
Keep in mind
Genius is unusually strong praise and can erase disciplined work. Name the exceptional insight when possible.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Dvortygirl, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Updated
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