prodigy
noun
Simple meaning
An extremely talented person.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
prahduhjeeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɹɑdədʒi
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An extremely talented person, especially a child.
An impressive or wonderful example of a particular quality
“The Marines are expected to perform prodigies of valor.”
An amazing or marvellous thing; a wonder.
An extraordinary occurrence or creature; an anomaly, especially a monster; a freak.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An extremely talented person, especially a child.
Used this way, prodigy is a reasonably familiar word with a mildly favourable edge. It carries more force than its gentler alternatives. It turns up most in family or home contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Strong
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Positive and appreciative
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Where it naturally appears
- Family/home
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use prodigy
- “She is a chess prodigy.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A recklessly extravagant consumer.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A prodigy whose talents are recognized at an early age.
A prodigy whose talents are recognized at an early age.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.