ingenious

American  

[in-jeen-yuhs] / ɪnˈdʒin yəs /

adjective

1. characterized by cleverness or originality of invention or construction.

   an ingenious machine.

2. cleverly inventive or resourceful.

   an ingenious press agent.

   Synonyms:

   adroit, resourceful, able, gifted, bright

   Antonyms:

   unskillful, maladroit, inept

3. Obsolete.

   1. intelligent; showing genius.

   2. ingenuous.

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ingenious British  

/ ɪnˈdʒiːnjəs, -nɪəs /

adjective

1. possessing or done with ingenuity; skilful or clever

2. obsolete having great intelligence; displaying genius

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Usage

What’s the difference between ingenious and ingenuous? Ingenious means clever or cleverly inventive or resourceful. Ingenuous means sincere or, perhaps more commonly, naive or innocent. Careful: ingenious sounds like genius (the two are often used in the same contexts and even come from the same root) but it’s not spelled ingenius. Ingenious is most often used in the context of ideas, inventions, and solutions considered clever for their inventiveness and resourcefulness. The related noun ingenuity refers to the quality of being ingenious—cleverness or inventiveness. Ingenuous, on the other hand, is most commonly used to describe people—typically people considered naive or overly trusting, especially due to a lack of real-world experience. The related noun ingénue refers to a young, inexperienced person. The adjective disingenuous is more commonly used than ingenuous and means insincere or falsely ingenuous—someone who’s described as disingenuous might be faking naivete. Once upon a time, ingenious was used to mean ingenuous, but this is no longer the case. To remember the difference, remember that ingenious sounds like genius and is used in similar contexts—an ingenious idea might also be described as a genius idea. Just don’t forget the -ous ending in ingenious. The middle of ingenuous sounds like the beginning of genuine, and an ingenuous person is usually a genuine one—nothing about them is insincere or intended to hide who they really are. Here’s an example of ingenious and ingenuous used correctly in a sentence. Example: The ingenuous inventor signed away the rights to his ingenious new creation without realizing it. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between ingenious and ingenuous.

Commonly Confused

Ingenious and ingenuous arose from the same Latin root meaning “to beget, give birth” and once had the same meaning. They are now distinct from each other and are not synonyms. Ingenious means “characterized by cleverness” or “cleverly inventive,” as in contriving new explanations or methods: an ingenious device; ingenious designers. Both ingenious and ingenuous originally meant “of honorable or free birth, noble in character; open, frank, candid,” senses that exist in Latin. Since the second half of the 17th century, ingenuous has acquired the additional sense “naively open, innocently frank”: an ingenuous and sincere statement; a thug with the ingenuous eyes of a choirboy.

Other Word Forms

• half-ingenious adjective
• half-ingeniously adverb
• half-ingeniousness noun
• ingeniously adverb
• ingeniousness noun
• overingenious adjective
• overingeniously adverb
• overingeniousness noun
• superingenious adjective
• superingeniously adverb
• superingeniousness noun

Etymology

Origin of ingenious

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Old French ingenïos, from Latin ingeniōsus, engeignos “clever, talented, gifted,” equivalent to ingeni(um) “natural disposition, temperament, mood; natural ability, cleverness” + -ōsus adjective suffix; in- ² ( def. ), genitor ( def. ); -ium, -ous

Explanation

Something ingenious shows creativity and inventiveness. If someone compares you to Einstein, they're implying that you, too, are ingenious. Ingenious comes from the Latin words for inborn talent. It started off meaning someone who was talented or incredibly smart, but has come to mean "inventive" or "clever." If you could calculate how long a given water supply would last during a drought in your head, people might call you a math genius. But if you can come up with a solution to solve all water shortage issues during a drought, you will be praised as ingenious. Ingenious can also describe an object, like an ingenious device.

Example Sentences

Succulents in particular thrive in this unforgiving landscape using ingenious strategies to survive, from water storage to light reflection.

From BBC • Mar. 11, 2026

Supporters see the loans as an ingenious way to reconnect hospitals with the people they serve.

From Barron's • Feb. 13, 2026

Some of Somaliland’s solutions are ingenious, as I saw in a reporting trip for Tablet magazine during the country’s 2021 parliamentary elections.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 4, 2026

Most ingenious of all are the soap bubbles, devised by Mr. Forman, an MIT doctoral student, that drift around the stage as whirling snow.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025

This difference in their points of view did not prevent Copley from endowing Revere’s portrait with an ingenious significance and penetrating characterization.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson

Related Words

• creative
• imaginative
• innovative
• intelligent
• inventive
• resourceful
• shrewd
• skillful
• sly
• subtle