mastermind

[mas-ter-mahynd, mah-ster-]

verb (used with object)

1. to plan and direct (a usually complex project or activity), especially skillfully.

   Two colonels had masterminded the revolt.

noun

1. a person who originates or is primarily responsible for the execution of a particular idea, project, or the like.

   the masterminds of company policy.

mastermind

/ ˈmɑːstəˌmaɪnd /

verb

1. (tr) to plan and direct (a complex undertaking)

   he masterminded the robbery

noun

1. a person of great intelligence or executive talent, esp one who directs an undertaking

Word History and Origins

Origin of mastermind¹

First recorded in 1710–20; master + mind

Example Sentences

Their only previous away victory against a top nation in the professional era was the famous shock win over South Africa in Brighton at the 2015 World Cup, again masterminded by Jones.

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Zelensky ordered two ministers to resign over the corruption scheme and sanctioned a former business partner who was named as its mastermind.

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The biggest shock came with the accusation that an alleged close friend and a former business associate of Zelensky, Timur Mindich, had masterminded the scheme.

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She said in an interview that she feels remorse and accepts that what she did was wrong, though she maintains she was not the mastermind of the scheme.

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Among them was "a businessman -- the head of the criminal organisation", the bureau added, without naming him -- an apparent reference to Mindich, who was earlier identified by the prosecutors as the mastermind of the scheme.

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Related Words

• organize