Hyperintelligent

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Displaying an exceptional intellect that greatly surpasses typical cognitive abilities
2. Having mental capacities far beyond the average person’s, demonstrating extraordinary cognitive skills
3. Exhibiting an elevated level of intellectual ability that is significantly superior to normal human reasoning

Etymology: Hyper- comes from Greek "hyper", meaning "over" or "beyond", and it has long been a productive prefix in English for building words that mean "excessively" or "to an extreme degree." Attaching it to "intelligent," which descends from Latin "intelligens," gives a word whose sense is simply intelligence pushed past the ordinary limit. The pattern is a familiar one. English speakers have combined hyper- with many adjectives, such as "hyperactive" and "hypersensitive," so "hyperintelligent" follows an established model rather than a single coinage with a traceable inventor. Its meaning is transparent from its parts, and nothing in its history has shifted it away from that literal sense.

Synonyms: genius, brilliant, intelligent

Antonyms: dull, stupid, ignorant