ingenuity

Language: en

🇺🇸 /ˌɪndʒəˈnuːəˌtiː/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    The quality of being clever, original, and inventive; the ability to solve problems in creative and resourceful ways.; An ingenious device, contrivance, or method.; Archaic: the quality of being ingenuous; openness, frankness, or candor.

🔗 Details

Word forms

uncountable

Collocations

sheer ingenuitytechnical ingenuityhuman ingenuitywith great ingenuityshow ingenuitya feat of ingenuity

Derivatives

ingeniousingeniouslyingeniousness

Synonyms

inventivenesscreativityclevernessresourcefulnessoriginalityimagination

Antonyms

stupiditydullnessobtuseness

Commonly confused

ingenuousness
EN: 'Ingenuity' means cleverness and inventiveness; 'ingenuousness' means innocence and naivety — they come from different Latin roots despite looking similar.
ingenuous
EN: 'Ingenious' (related to ingenuity) means clever; 'ingenuous' means innocent or unsuspecting.

Spelling tips

EN: Do not confuse 'ingenuity' (cleverness, from 'ingenious') with 'ingenuousness' (naivety, from 'ingenuous'). The similar spelling leads to frequent mix-ups in meaning.

💬 Examples

  1. The engineer's ingenuity allowed her to fix the machine with nothing but a paperclip and some tape.

  2. The trap was an ingenuity of springs and levers that caught the mouse without harming it.

  3. He spoke with such ingenuity that no one doubted his sincerity.