brainiac
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of brainiac
From Brainiac, a superintelligent, villainous alien in the Superman comics, probably brain + (man)iac
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.
Who knows what might have happened if an ordinary pol like Harding, rather than the zealous brainiac Hoover, had been president in 1929.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
Guiding his efforts in this second season, along with Owen Wilson’s Mobius, is Ke Huy Quan’s Ouroboros, the nerdy brainiac running the TVA’s Repairs and Advancement Department.
From Salon ● Nov. 9, 2023
Jacob was highly coveted by the usual brainiac football schools, earning scholarship offers from Northwestern, Notre Dame and Rutgers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2022
The heroine is Maya, a shy brainiac who is Black and a fifth grader.
From New York Times ● Jul. 30, 2021
The place was a workshop for brainiac kids.
From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan
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.
