whiz kid
noun
a youthful and exceptionally intelligent, successful, or influential person in a given field.
whiz kid
1 Americannoun
Informal.
whiz-kid
2
American
[hwiz-kid, wiz-]
/ ˈʰwɪzˌkɪd, ˈwɪz- /
adjective
Etymology
Origin of whiz kid1
First recorded in 1940–45
Origin of whiz-kid2
First recorded in 1940–45
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:
Less than four months earlier, the carpet-cleaning company run by 21-year-old whiz kid Barry Minkow had a stock-market value of roughly $300 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
I’m not a financial whiz kid, but investors are trying to bring the price down so they can buy as much as possible, trying to scare the weaker hands.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 19, 2025
In one scene, its whiz kid CEO grins from a billboard as “Prodigy is the future! Prodigy is forever!” repeats on a loop.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2025
In “Wakanda Forever,” Riri is introduced as an MIT whiz kid who catches the eyes of the Wakandans after inventing a vibranium detector.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2025
That was the first prize—and it was won by some young chap who’s apparently a bit of a whiz kid when it comes to computers.
From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz
Bankman-Fried has now completed a narrative arc from whiz-kid founder of a crypto empire to fraudster who stole billions in customer funds.
From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2023
"So kids who are struggling with things, it can show that you do not have to be a classroom whiz-kid, you can go through any route of life."
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2021
But for the teen whiz-kid, something was missing.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2019
In graffiti art, socially marginalized artists like African American whiz-kid Jean-Michel Basquiat and gay activist Keith Haring invade the patrician canvas with the street's rough-and-tumble.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2015
If he knew he was arriving with a whiz-kid reputation, it didn’t show.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
