ingenious

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: in=gen=ious

CIDE DICTIONARY

ingenious, a. [L. ingeniosus, fr. ingenium innate or natural quality, natural capacity, genius: cf. F. ingénieux. See Engine.].

•  Possessed of genius, or the faculty of invention; skillful or promp to invent; having an aptitude to contrive, or to form new combinations; as, an ingenious author, mechanic.  [1913 Webster]

  "A man . . . very wise and ingenious in feats of war."  [1913 Webster]

  "Thou, king, send out
  For torturers ingenious."  [1913 Webster]

  "The more ingenious men are, the more apt are they to trouble themselves."  [1913 Webster]
•  Proceeding from, pertaining to, or characterized by, genius or ingenuity; of curious design, structure, or mechanism; as, an ingenious model, or machine; an ingenious scheme, contrivance, etc.  [1913 Webster]

  "Thus men go wrong with an ingenious skill."  [1913 Webster]
•  Witty; shrewd; adroit; keen; sagacious; as, an ingenious reply.  [1913 Webster]
•  Mental; intellectual.  [1913 Webster]

  "A course of learning and ingenious studies."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

ingenious, adj.
1 clever at inventing, constructing, organizing, etc.; skilful; resourceful.
2 (of a machine, theory, etc.) cleverly contrived.

Derivative

ingeniously adv. ingeniousness n.

Etymology

ME, = talented, f. F ing{eacute}nieux or L ingeniosus f. ingenium cleverness: cf. ENGINE

THESAURUS

ingenious

Daedalian, Machiavellian, Machiavellic, acute, adept, adroit, apt, arch, artful, artistic, astute, authoritative, bravura, bright, brilliant, cagey, canny, clean, clever, conceptive, conceptual, coordinated, crack, crackerjack, crafty, creative, cunning, cute, daedal, deceitful, deep, deep-laid, deft, demiurgic, designing, dexterous, dextrous, diplomatic, esemplastic, excellent, expert, fancy, fecund, feline, fertile, foxy, germinal, gifted, good, goodish, graceful, guileful, handy, ideational, ideative, imaginative, innovational, innovative, insidious, inspired, inventive, keen, knowing, magisterial, masterful, masterly, neat, no mean, notional, on the ball, original, originative, pawky, politic, pregnant, productive, professional, proficient, prolific, quick, quite some, ready, resourceful, scheming, seminal, serpentine, shaping, sharp, shifty, shrewd, skilled, skillful, slick, slim, slippery, sly, smart, smooth, snaky, sneaky, some, sophistical, statesmanlike, stealthy, strategic, stylish, subtile, subtle, supple, tactful, tactical, talented, teeming, the compleat, the complete, trickish, tricksy, tricky, virtuoso, visioned, vulpine, wary, well-done, wily, workmanlike

ROGET THESAURUS

ingenious

Skill

N skill, skillfulness, address, dexterity, dexterousness, adroitness, expertness, proficiency, competence, technical competence, craft, callidity, facility, knack, trick, sleight, mastery, mastership, excellence, panurgy, ambidexterity, ambidextrousness, sleight of hand, seamanship, airmanship, marksmanship, horsemanship, rope-dancing, accomplishment, acquirement, attainment, art, science, technicality, technology, practical knowledge, technical knowledge, knowledge of the world, world wisdom, savoir faire, tact, mother wit, discretion, finesse, craftiness, management, self-help, cleverness, talent, ability, ingenuity, capacity, parts, talents, faculty, endowment, forte, turn, gift, genius, intelligence, sharpness, readiness, invention, aptness, aptitude, turn for, capacity for, genius for, felicity, capability, curiosa felicitas, qualification, habilitation, proficient, masterpiece, coup de maitre, chef d'euvre, tour de force, good stroke, skillful, dexterous, adroit, expert, apt, handy, quick, deft, ready, gain, slick, smart, proficient, good at, up to, at home in, master of, a good hand at, au fait, thoroughbred, masterly, crack, accomplished, conversant, experienced, practiced, skilled, hackneyed, up in, well up in, in practice, in proper cue, competent, efficient, qualified, capable, fitted, fit for, up to the mark, trained, initiated, prepared, primed, finished, clever, cute, able, ingenious, felicitous, gifted, talented, endowed, inventive, shrewd, sharp, on the ball, cunning, alive to, up to snuff, not to be caught with chaff, discreet, neat-handed, fine-fingered, nimble-fingered, ambidextrous, sure- footed, cut out for, fitted for, technical, artistic, scientific, daedalian, shipshape, workman- like, business-like, statesman-like, skillfully, well, artistically, with skill, with consummate skill, secundum artem, suo Marte, to the best of one's abilities, ars celare artem, artes honorabit, celui qui veut celui-la peut, c'est une grande habilite que de savoir cacher son, expertus metuit, es bildet ein Talent sich in der Stille sich ein C, heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, or the hand to execute, if you have lemons, make lemonade.