Antonyms for ingenuity

Grammar : Noun

Spell : in-juh-noo-i-tee, -nyoo-

Phonetic Transcription : ˌɪn dʒəˈnu ɪ ti, -ˈnyu-

Definition of ingenuity

Origin : 1590s, "honor, nobility," from Middle French ingénuité and directly from Latin ingenuitatem (nominative ingenuitas) "condition of a free-born man," figuratively "generosity, noble-mindedness," from ingenuus (see ingenuous). Etymologically, this word belongs to ingenuous, but in 17c. ingenious and ingenuous so often were confused (even by Shakespeare) that ingenuity has acquired the meaning "capacity for invention or construction" (first attested 1640s).

noun cleverness

Example sentences :

It was evident that he was well pleased with his own ingenuity.
Extract from : « Within the Law » by Marvin Dana

It does not consist of ingenuity limited, but merely of inanity expanded.
Extract from : « Alarms and Discursions » by G. K. Chesterton

Some of the work they produce is wonderful for its beauty and ingenuity.
Extract from : « Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 57, No. 352, February 1845 » by Various

It was the delivery of those at the apartment that taxed her ingenuity.
Extract from : « The Film of Fear » by Arnold Fredericks

But a friend is a sane man who exercises not my ingenuity, but me.
Extract from : « Essays, First Series » by Ralph Waldo Emerson

And so, Phaedrus, you really imagine that I am going to improve upon the ingenuity of Lysias?
Extract from : « Phaedrus » by Plato

That was a question all Tressan's ingenuity could not answer.
Extract from : « St. Martin's Summer » by Rafael Sabatini

Many of us, however, are astonished at the ingenuity that is displayed in this department.
Extract from : « Three Years in the Federal Cavalry » by Willard Glazier

Foresight and ingenuity of the rarest kinds are demanded there.
Extract from : « Rural Life and the Rural School » by Joseph Kennedy

I enjoyed the book and admired the ingenuity with which the plot is worked out.
Extract from : « War Letters of a Public-School Boy » by Paul Jones.

Synonyms for ingenuity

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019