mastermind

«mastermind» in Mova's school dictionary: A very clever person who plans something difficult… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (a mastermind, masterminds); verb (mastermind, masterminds, masterminded, masterminding)

meaning for a pupil

1) A very clever person who plans something difficult, especially the person who plans a crime or a big scheme. tree →

2) (verb) To plan and organise something difficult and clever. tree →

3) (UK) Mastermind is a famous TV quiz show with a black chair. tree →

sense in the lessons

In detective stories the villain is often a criminal mastermind; heroes may mastermind a rescue. In The Wind in the Willows the Badger masterminds the plan to win back Toad Hall from the stoats and weasels through the secret tunnel. In school we may call a top quiz player «a mastermind».

examples

• The detective finally caught the mastermind behind the robbery. tree →
• Badger masterminded the attack on Toad Hall. tree →
• My sister masterminded a surprise party for Mum. tree →
• Who is the mastermind behind this clever trick? tree →
• She is a maths mastermind. tree →
• The mastermind of the plan stayed hidden in the shadows. tree →

note

Countable noun; the verb is regular (masterminded). Often used about bad plans (crimes), but can be positive too.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «mastermind» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.