Dictionary

mastermind en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈmæs.tɚˌmaɪnd/ (US)
• /ˈmɑː.stə.mʌɪnd/ (UK)
• (US) audio
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From master + mind.

Meanings

1. A person with an extraordinary intellect or skill that is markedly superior to their peers.
   • At long intervals some master-minds appeared, looking upon each advance in practical science as a retro-gradation in the true utility. 1840, Edgar Allan Poe, The Colloquy of Monos and Una:
   • His first outside hire wasn't an electronics whiz or a mechanical mastermind, but a young industrial designer, a creature hitherto unknown at DEKA. 2003, Steve Kemper, chapter 2, in Code Name Ginger: the Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen's Quest to Invent a New World, →ISBN, page 34:
2. (idiomatic) A person responsible for the highest level of planning and execution of a major operation.
   • Prosecutors later suspected that Wang, chairman of Ciji Temple in Tainan's Syuejia District, was the mastermind behind the shootings, but the court acquitted him of the charge because of insufficient evidence. 2025 March 14, Hsieh Hsin-en, Ko Lin, “Supreme Court upholds verdicts in 2022 Tainan shooting case”, in Focus Taiwan, archived from the original on 14 Mar 2025, Society:
   • The first was with none other than Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM), mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. 2007, Mark S. Hamm, chapter 6, in Terrorism as Crime: from Oklahoma City to Al-Qaeda and Beyond, →ISBN, page 196:

Forms

Deriveds

masterminder · mastermindful

Descendants

Mastermind

Translations (32)

sh ко̏ловођа (a person responsible for a major operation) · uk голова (a person with extraordinary intellect) · fr cerveau (a person with extraordinary intellect) · fi johtaja (a person responsible for a major operation) · ca cervell (a person responsible for a major operation) · sh rukovòdilac (a person responsible for a major operation) · bg организатор (a person responsible for a major operation) · de Mastermind (a person responsible for a major operation) · de Superhirn (a person with extraordinary intellect) · sh plànēr (a person responsible for a major operation) · el ιθύνων νους (a person responsible for a major operation) · cs mozek (a person responsible for a major operation) · es mente maestra (a person with extraordinary intellect) · es cerebro (a person responsible for a major operation) · fr tête (a person with extraordinary intellect) · bg ръководител (a person responsible for a major operation) · uk керівник (a person responsible for a major operation) · ru руководи́тель (a person responsible for a major operation) · id dalang (a person responsible for a major operation) · sk mozok (a person responsible for a major operation) · sh kȍlovođa (a person responsible for a major operation) · ca ment pensant (a person responsible for a major operation) · es mente maestra (a person responsible for a major operation) · uk мозок (a person with extraordinary intellect) · sk mozok (a person with extraordinary intellect) · sh пла̀не̄р (a person responsible for a major operation) · ja 首謀者 (a person responsible for a major operation) · fr cerveau (a person responsible for a major operation) · de Drahtzieher (a person responsible for a major operation) · sh руково̀дилац (a person responsible for a major operation) · cs mozek (a person with extraordinary intellect) · tr beyin (a person responsible for a major operation)

mastermind en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈmæs.tɚˌmaɪnd/ (US)
• /ˈmɑː.stə.mʌɪnd/ (UK)
• (US) audio
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From master + mind.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To plan or execute (a project) in the role of mastermind.
   • It would later be revealed that the corporation contributed over a quarter of a million dollars to the effort—a whopping 93 percent of the total coffer—and hired a team of media and political experts to mastermind it. 2007, Kevin Danaher et al., Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grassroots, →ISBN, page 136:
   • Gray was soon replaced by Morgan McSweeney, who had masterminded Labour’s unexpectedly rapid post-Jeremy Corbyn renaissance, but was equally unsuited to the role, and whose primary legacy was the disastrous appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington. 2026 June 22, Peter Walker, “Frozen by the challenges of power: how Starmer turned triumph into tragedy”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • Travelling over the route today, it is well to remember the ongoing role of the Friends of the S&C and the work of the late Ron Cotton. He masterminded its revival, thereby reversing the role he had been given by BR to bring about its closure. 2020 July 1, David Allen, “Signalling from Leeds along the S&C”, in Rail, page 78:

Forms

Translations (10)

ru управля́ть (to act as mastermind) · fr diriger (to act as mastermind) · bg организирам (to act as mastermind) · id mendalangi (to act as mastermind) · ru руководи́ть (to act as mastermind) · fr organiser (to act as mastermind) · bg ръководя (to act as mastermind) · it orchestrare (to act as mastermind) · it architettare (to act as mastermind) · fi johtaa (to act as mastermind)