mastermind
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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mastermindsimple
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mastermindssimple
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have mastermindedperfect
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has mastermindedperfect
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am mastermindingprogressive
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are mastermindingprogressive
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is mastermindingprogressive
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have been mastermindingperfect progressive
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has been mastermindingperfect progressive
Past
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mastermindedsimple
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had mastermindedperfect
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was mastermindingprogressive
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were mastermindingprogressive
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had been mastermindingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mastermind
Explanation
A mastermind is a brilliant thinker with original ideas. You might be a chess mastermind or a criminal mastermind: either way, people will not want to oppose you. Inventors, intellectuals, and famous geniuses call all be called masterminds, from Albert Einstein to theoretical physicist Dr. Shirley Jackson. You could also call people who are successful in their fields — especially if they come up with new ways of doing things — masterminds. Even a brilliant jewel thief might be called a safe-cracking mastermind. As a verb, to mastermind is to act as the leader of some complex plan or scheme.
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.
See Examples For:
Keegan is one of the most transformational figures in Newcastle's history - the mastermind behind 'The Entertainers', who challenged for the Premier League title in 1996.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Soccer and the mastermind behind that World Cup — created for the 23 players who will wear the U.S. crest at home this summer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
Keegan is one of the most transformational figures in Newcastle's history, the mastermind behind the Entertainers, who challenged for the Premier League title in 1996.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
Najib's defence lawyers blamed Low and dubbed him the mastermind of the scheme.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
In May of that year, Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, was killed in his hiding place in Abbottabad, just a stone’s throw away from our military academy.
From "Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World" by Malala Yousafzai
The boys are not masterminds; the victims are not fools.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
The church had previous accused successive governments of failing to identify the masterminds behind the bombings.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
Dan Houser was one of the masterminds behind revolutionary video game series Grand Theft Auto.
From BBC ● Dec. 13, 2025
The Envelope spoke to the masterminds behind three of this year’s most arresting campaigns to learn the secrets of their craft.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2025
The boy who had thought of a mouse to turn his windmill had thought out some of the sublimest things in nature, and was henceforward to rank as one of the few masterminds of science.
From Famous Men of Science by Bolton, Sarah K.
And then in 2024 he masterminded the Kursk attack -- the first sustained foreign incursion into Russia since WWII.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
A whole new genre of celebrity divorce: Slate’s Scaachi Koul considers how Bunnie Xo, an archetypical “Cool Girl,” seems to have masterminded a new strategy for getting divorced in the public eye.
From Slate ● Jul. 16, 2026
By comparison, the total illegal profit from the insider-trading scheme masterminded by hedge-fund titan Raj Rajaratnam was $53.8 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
By that stage, of course, Ancelotti had masterminded Brazil's first comeback victory in a World Cup knockout game since beating Turkey in the semi-finals some 24 years ago.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
“This whole thing is masterminded by the Erudite. And it’s not like they’re giving orders.”
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
They square the circle of Swift masterminding a full-scale trolling of media and fans while simultaneously hosting a cotton-candy celebrity circus.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
Interim boss Carrick is making his case for the permanent job after masterminding an impressive turnaround since Ruben Amorim was sacked in January.
From Barron's ● Feb. 7, 2026
She defended Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, who were indicted for masterminding two of the biggest leaks of intelligence secrets in U.S. history.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026
Low is alleged to have gained his wealth after masterminding a scheme to steal billions from 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB, a Malaysian sovereign-wealth fund.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
The boss of a sock-making company has been ordered to pay back more than £90m after masterminding a huge tax fraud.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2025
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.
