brainiac
noun
Did you know?
As Superman fans know, Brainiac was the superintelligent villain in the Action Comics series and its spin-offs. His name is a portmanteau of brain and maniac. (For those who believe it comes from a 1950s "computer kit," fly here, but come back.) You don't need x-ray vision to see the connection here—etymologists think Superman's brainy adversary is the likely inspiration for the common noun brainiac. The term was not coined right away though. The comic-book series was launched in 1938 and the character Brainiac debuted in 1956, but current evidence doesn't show general use of brainiac to refer to a superintelligent person until the 1970s.
Synonyms
- brain
- genius
- intellect
- thinker
- whiz
- wiz
- wizard
Example Sentences
Greg Moore, The Arizona Republic, 21 Apr. 2022 But if Weddle couldn’t fend off blocks or make tackles, being a brainiac wouldn’t be enough. Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Feb. 2022 Now settled in the fictitious Port Oswego, Ore., the congenial brainiac has become popular among students and teachers alike. New York Times, 11 Jan. 2022 But again, there’s probably a whole load more business decisions and brainiac ideas that will probably help that idea flourish. Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 22 Mar. 2021 Familiar tropes get a raucous refresh when an underdog brainiac teams up with misfit dancers to pop-and-lock like a champ. Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 21 Dec. 2020 Meanwhile there’s a new bad guy to reckon with: Merrick (Harry Melling), a bratty brainiac who likes to refer to himself as the youngest billionaire in pharma. Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 8 July 2020 Among the many impressive and articulate brainiacs featured here, Orlowski's one-time contemporary at Stanford, Tristan Harris, grabs the lion's share of the screen time. Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2020 But the Stallman affair touches on something else: a simmering resentment of the treatment of women by the scruffy brainiacs who built our digital world, as well as the Brahmins of academia and business who benefited from the hackers’ effort. Wired, 18 Sep. 2019 See More Word History
probably from Brainiac, superintelligent villain in the Superman comic-book series
1975, in the meaning defined above
brainiacs
noun
Synonyms & Similar Words
- geniuses
- wizards
- genii
- brains
- nerds
- intellects
- thinkers
- geeks
- whizzes
- wizzes
- intellectuals
- savants
- polymaths
- highbrows
- sages
- virtuosos
- blues
- masters
- bluestockings
- longhairs
- virtuosi
- naturals
- crackerjacks
- polyhistors
- Renaissance men
- aces
- crackajacks
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- idiots
- morons
- dolts
- blockheads
- imbeciles
- numbskulls
- dopes
- knuckleheads
- dunces
- nitwits
- pinheads
- numskulls
- dummies
- goons
- illiterates
- dodos
- fatheads
- ignoramuses
- hammerheads
- dumbbells
- philistines
- half-wits
- fools
- asses
- know-nothings
- lowbrows
- ignorami
- jackasses
- donkeys
- cretins
- clowns
- beasts
- jerks
- anti-intellectuals
- heels
- skunks
- snakes
- dodoes
- cads
- creeps
- skunk
- louts
- boors
- stinkers
- churls
- louses
- curs