ingenious

[in-jeen-yuhs]

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.

ingenious

/ ɪnˈdʒiːnjəs, -nɪəs /

adjective

1. possessing or done with ingenuity; skilful or clever

2. obsolete,  having great intelligence; displaying genius

Confusables Note

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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of ingenious¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of ingenious¹

C15: from Latin ingeniōsus, from ingenium natural ability; see _engine

Example Sentences

It is an ingenious argument: The value and freedom of individuals are gradually asserted against God himself.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Poland, as well as Scandinavian and Baltic countries, have enthusiastically endorsed the plan, which Finland's President Alexander Stubb called "ingenious".

Read more on BBC

But now the AI ecosystem, thanks to a similar pattern of ingenious gains, is exhibiting precisely the same efficiency and scaling trajectory as the automobile more than a century ago.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It led to high-profile and often ingenious protests by some islanders, with some even spending time in prison for failing to pay the fine for non-payment.

Read more on BBC

Frost thinks it was an "incredibly ingenious decision" to make Carr a traitor "because he's giggly and extrovert and doesn't seem to be able to ever filter what he says or keep a secret".

Read more on BBC

Related Words

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

When To Use

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.