brainiac
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
Merriam-Webster
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🗓️ 18 June 2024
⏱️ 2 minutes
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Summary
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 18, 2024 is:
brainiac • \BRAY-nee-ak\ • noun
A brainiac is a very intelligent person.
// Her ability to solve almost any puzzle within minutes secured her place as the brainiac of the family.
Examples:
"In this modern, adult-oriented take on the classic 'Scooby-Doo' franchise, the series follows the origin story of Velma Dinkley (Kaling), the brainiac of the Mystery Inc. gang. After a corpse is found in her high school, Velma teams up with Daphne (Constance Wu), Shaggy (Sam Richardson) and Fred (Glenn Howerton) to solve the murder." — Michaela Zee, Variety, 21 Dec. 2022
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. 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 1958, but current evidence doesn't show general use of brainiac to refer to a superintelligent person until the 1970s.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Merriam-Webster's word of the day for June 18th. |
| 0:11.0 | Today's word is brainiac, spelled B-R-A-I-L-B-L-B-C-B-Y-A-C- Brainiac is a noun. A-B-N-A-A-C-A-N-A-C-A-A-N-A-E-A-C-A-A-A-N-A-A-N-A-A-C. A brainiac is a noun. A very intelligent person. Here's the word used in a sentence from variety by Michaela Z. |
| 0:26.7 | In this modern adult-oriented take on the classic Scooby-Doo franchise, the series follows the origin story of Velma Dinkley, |
| 0:34.7 | Kaling, the brainiac of the Mystery Inc. gang. After a corpse is found in her |
| 0:40.6 | high school, Velma teams up with Daphne, Constance Wu, Shaggy, Sam Richardson, and Fred, |
| 0:47.0 | Glenn Howerton to solve the murder. |
| 0:50.0 | As Superman fans know, Brainiac was the super intelligent villain in the Action Comics series and its spin-offs. |
| 0:58.0 | His name is a portmanteau of Brain and Maniac. |
| 1:02.0 | You don't need X-ray vision to see the connection here. |
| 1:05.2 | Etymology thinks Superman's brainy adversary is the likely inspiration for the |
| 1:10.5 | common noun brainiac. The term was not coined right away though. |
| 1:15.0 | The comic book series was launched in 1938 and the character brainiac debuted in |
| 1:20.0 | 1958, but current evidence doesn't show general use of Brainiac to refer to a super-intelligent |
| 1:26.6 | person until the 1970s. |
| 1:29.5 | With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski. Visit Marion Webster.com today for definitions, word play, and trending word lookups. |
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