wunderkind
Americannoun
plural
wunderkinds,plural
wunderkinder-
a wonder child or child prodigy.
-
a person who succeeds, especially in business, at a comparatively early age.
noun
-
a child prodigy
-
a person who is exceptionally successful in his field while still young
Etymology
Origin of wunderkind
1890–95; < German, equivalent to Wunder wonder + Kind child
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.
Jordan Stolz is Team USA’s breakout star at these Olympics—the speedskating Wisconsin wunderkind who’s already won two gold medals and is hunting for more.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026
“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 • Nov. 18, 2025
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 • Nov. 12, 2025
Once an up-and-coming baseball wunderkind, Hank is now content watching his beloved San Francisco Giants play from across the country while he makes a modest name for himself among the bar patrons.
From Salon • Aug. 29, 2025
An escape hatch was provided by his brother-in-law Landon Thorne, a Wall Street wunderkind who proposed that they form an investment banking partnership.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
