mastermind
pronunciation
How to pronounce mastermind in British English:
UK [ˈmɑ:stəmaɪnd]
How to pronounce mastermind in American English:
US [ˈmæstərmaɪnd]
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- Noun:
- someone who creates new things
- someone who has exceptional intellectual ability and originality
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- Verb:
- plan and direct (a complex undertaking)
Word Origin
- mastermind (n.)
- 1720, "an outstanding intellect," from master (n.) + mind (n.). Meaning "head of a criminal enterprise" is first attested 1872. As a verb from 1940. Related: Masterminded; masterminding.
Example
- 1. Six islamic extremists were convicted of carrying out the bombing , including mastermind ramzi yousef .
- 2. As the mastermind of the republican takeover of the house in 1994 , and a cheerleader for mr clinton 's impeachment , his partisan credentials are beyond doubt .
- 3. If I were a mastermind seeking to undermine the city of london , I would shift germany 's financial centre from frankfurt to berlin , just as the country moved its political capital from bonn in the 1990s .
- 4. The administration 's stymied plans to try khalid sheikh mohammed , the supposed mastermind of 9 / 11 , in a federal court instead of a military tribunal have likewise been greeted as evidence that the president is soft on terrorism .
- 5. As the obama team has coalesced , summers , who leads a daily economic briefing for the president , has seemed to emerge as the strategic mastermind of the administration 's macroeconomic response to the biggest crisis since the depression .