wunderkind
Americannoun
plural
wunderkinds,plural
wunderkinder-
a wonder child or child prodigy.
-
a person who succeeds, especially in business, at a comparatively early age.
noun
-
a child prodigy
-
a person who is exceptionally successful in his field while still young
Etymology
Origin of wunderkind
1890–95; < German, equivalent to Wunder wonder + Kind child
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In one, Grimes offered to help Musk get $5 billion in funding from then-cryptocurrency wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried, whom he described as an “Ultra genius and doer builder like your formula.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026
Even the president's onetime wunderkind former prime minister Gabriel Attal is keeping his distance.
From BBC • Oct. 6, 2025
It was the Olympic Stadium, not Camp Nou, that witnessed the emergence of the club’s newest wunderkind, Yamal.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 12, 2025
Once an up-and-coming baseball wunderkind, Hank is now content watching his beloved San Francisco Giants play from across the country while he makes a modest name for himself among the bar patrons.
From Salon • Aug. 29, 2025
Peter Diamond was the latest up-and-coming Brooklyn wunderkind literary sensation.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
