Ingenious
What it means
Cleverly original in a way that solves a difficult problem.
Reach for it when praising an idea, device, or person for inventive effectiveness
The ingenious hinge lets the desk fold flat without removing a single bolt.
Words to choose between 8
| everyday | |
|---|---|
| warm | |
| professional |
|
| literary |
-
everyday
Fits when quick intelligence or a neat idea deserves simple praise
Careful Clever can reward showiness and does not require genuine usefulness.
-
everyday
Fits when original thought matters even if the result is artistic or exploratory
Careful Creative is too broad when the special merit is solving a technical constraint.
-
warm
Fits when enthusiastic praise for exceptional intelligence or insight is warranted
Careful Brilliant is broader and more inflated than a precise compliment on a solution.
-
warm
Fits when limited materials are used to overcome a practical obstacle
Careful Resourcefulness can rely on familiar tricks instead of original design.
-
professional
Fits when the solution achieves its goal with striking simplicity
Careful An elegant answer may apply known principles rather than invent anything.
-
professional
Fits when a useful new approach changes an established method
Careful Innovation can be organizational and large-scale without ingenious cleverness.
-
professional
Fits when skill in creating new methods or objects is the point
Careful Inventive work may be experimental rather than elegantly effective.
-
literary
cunning
Fits when intricate cleverness is admired in a mechanism or plan
Careful For people, cunning often implies deception and can turn praise into suspicion.
Opposites 3
- unoriginal
- clumsy
- ineffective
Common phrases 3
-
ingenious solution
Their ingenious solution used the stair rail as a temporary cable guide.
-
ingenious design
The ingenious design lets one handle fit jars of six sizes.
-
truly ingenious
Reusing the warm exhaust to dry the timber was truly ingenious.
Word family 1
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Neskaya, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Updated