Wunderkind
[VUN-də-kihnd]
Part of speech: noun
Origin: German, late 19th century
1.
A person who achieves great success when relatively young.
Examples of Wunderkind in a sentence
"She earned the reputation of a wunderkind when she sold her startup for $5 million at age 23."
"The piano teacher always hoped that she might come across a wunderkind in her lessons."
About Wunderkind
Some things just sound cooler in a foreign language. You could call a talented kid a child prodigy, but "wunderkind" is more fun. The direct translation from German is "wonder child" — and don't forget to pronounce the "v" at the beginning of "wunderkind."
Did you Know?
All proud parents watching their children learn new skills might be tempted to use the word "wunderkind." But technically, "wunderkind" should be reserved for a child who is producing work at the level of an adult. If their pride and joy grows up to be an unusually successful 20-something, they can use "wunderkind" again.
