stroke of genius
8
4.8
- noun
:
toque de genialidad
- No wait, I just had a stroke of genius.
- one stroke of genius
So in fact it was a great discovery because Maxwell unified electricity, magnetism and optics with a real stroke of genius.
- So in fact it was a great discovery because Maxwell unified electricity, magnetism and optics with a real stroke of genius.
- That in itself I think is was one of the few things that was a stroke of genius.
Examples
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It was Sarah's stroke of genius to make a business out of recycled byproducts.
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What a stroke of genius!
Fiction book (2000) -
Really, it's kind of a stroke of genius.
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Now that seems like a stroke of genius!
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It's a stroke of genius.
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What he did was a stroke of genius.
Fiction book (1994) -
That's a stroke of genius.
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It was a stroke of genius.
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Banishing him to the Old Provinces was a stroke of genius.
Fiction book (1991) -
Switching the venue to a beach was truly a stroke of genius for the event planners, as it attracted a larger crowd.
Synonyms
52
6.6
A sudden clear idea that gives you new understanding
26
3.6
A sudden idea that helps you solve a problem
2
5.1
A sudden clever idea that solves a problem
1
6.0
A sudden clever idea or action that solves a problem
Antonyms
How Brilliant
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense here relies on 'stroke' meaning 'a sudden occurrence/turn' combined with 'genius' (brilliance), so the phrase can be parsed as 'a sudden act/instance of genius' and is partly derivable from its parts. However, 'stroke' has multiple senses (e.g. medical stroke, a physical stroke) and the figurative 'stroke of X' pattern is metaphorical rather than strictly compositional, so many B1 learners would need some exposure to be fully confident about the exact meaning.
Etymology
The noun stroke of genius may come from the image of a single, strong stroke like a painter's brush or a writer's pen that suddenly makes something special. So, the phrase means 'a sudden brilliant idea or action'.