ingenious
Americanadjective
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characterized by cleverness or originality of invention or construction.
an ingenious machine.
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cleverly inventive or resourceful.
an ingenious press agent.
- Synonyms:
- adroit, resourceful, able, gifted, bright
- Antonyms:
- unskillful, maladroit, inept
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Obsolete.
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intelligent; showing genius.
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ingenuous.
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adjective
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possessing or done with ingenuity; skilful or clever
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obsolete having great intelligence; displaying genius
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
Derived Forms
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; see origin at in- 2 ( def. ), genitor ( def. ); see also -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.
Vocabulary lists containing ingenious
The Hobbit
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The Ingenious Lexicon of Invention
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List 7
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And in the NES era, Ingenious Nintendo and Just Plain Weird Nintendo were shining as brightly as ever, wringing delights and oddities from a modest 8-bit system.
From Slate • Oct. 16, 2020
It’s an especially risky debut for Hollywood-based Solstice, which Gill founded in October 2018 with $400 million in funding, including $150 million from London-based financier Ingenious Media.
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2020
One of the things I most admire about “The Ingenious Language” is that it doesn’t spoon-feed the reader.
From The New Yorker • Jan. 2, 2020
Ingenious takes on soft serve, shaved ice and other treats from Thailand, Japan and South Korea are putting the American scoop shop to shame.
From New York Times • Aug. 10, 2017
“He wears a headlamp. Ingenious, really. I admire his creativity in the face of opposition. Entrepreneurship at its finest—there are no impossibilities, just hurdles to be overcome.”
From "Lawn Boy" by Gary Paulsen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
