wunderkind
Americannoun
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a wonder child or child prodigy.
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a person who succeeds, especially in business, at a comparatively early age.
noun
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a child prodigy
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a person who is exceptionally successful in his field while still young
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of wunderkind
1890–95; < German, equivalent to Wunder wonder + Kind child
Explanation
A wunderkind is someone who achieves a huge amount of success at a young age. Publish a bestselling novel before you turn 14 and everyone will be calling you a wunderkind. If you think this word looks a lot like "wonder kid," you're on the right track — the German Wunderkind means "wonder-child." It initially described musical prodigies like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who composed his first piece of music at the age of five. Today you can use it for any amazing young person, like your six-year-old cousin who does crazy skateboard tricks or the student in math class who rapidly solves equations that stump her teacher.
Vocabulary lists containing wunderkind
Words Derived from German
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Off the Record
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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.
At 14, the wunderkind performed for then-First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House as part of a student delegation of musicians from the museum.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
Wembanyama was a French wunderkind who could pass and shoot like a point guard, throw down dunks like a center—and happened to stand 7 feet, 4 inches tall.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
And during that time, he grew from wunderkind into one of the game’s elder statesmen.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
Even the president's onetime wunderkind former prime minister Gabriel Attal is keeping his distance.
From BBC • Oct. 6, 2025
An escape hatch was provided by his brother-in-law Landon Thorne, a Wall Street wunderkind who proposed that they form an investment banking partnership.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
