wunderkind

American  

[voon-der-kind, wuhn-, voon-duhr-kint] / ˈvʊn dərˌkɪnd, ˈwʌn-, ˈvʊn dərˌkɪnt /

noun

plural

wunderkinds,

plural

wunderkinder

1. a wonder child or child prodigy.

2. a person who succeeds, especially in business, at a comparatively early age.

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wunderkind British  

/ ˈwʌndəˌkɪnd, ˈvʊndərˌkɪnt /

noun

1. a child prodigy

2. a person who is exceptionally successful in his field while still young

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Etymology

Origin of wunderkind

1890–95; < German, equivalent to Wunder wonder + Kind child

Example Sentences

He was, himself, a wunderkind political reporter, first for the New Republic and then during a decade at the New Yorker.

From The Wall Street Journal

He accomplished very good things in Oxford and he’s turned his career in a steadier direction after a peripatetic start as a football wunderkind.

From The Wall Street Journal

“But most importantly to me, she was a wonderful mother to our incredible wunderkind daughter. And for that I will be forever grateful to her.”

From Los Angeles Times

Once viewed as a wunderkind from the beginning of baseball’s data revolution—he was the loose basis of Jonah Hill’s character in the “Moneyball” movie—DePodesta abandoned the sport nearly a decade ago.

From The Wall Street Journal

Even the president's onetime wunderkind former prime minister Gabriel Attal is keeping his distance.

From BBC

Related Words

• genius
• sensation
• whiz
• wizard