mastermind
[verb]
Synonyms:
- plan, conceive, devise, direct, manage, organize
[noun]
Synonyms:
- organizer, architect, brain(s) (informal), director, engineer, manager, planner

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

Mastermind
a popular British television quiz programme, in which people compete to see who can give the most correct answers in a fixed amount of time. The programme is known for the large black leather chair that each person sits in to answer their questions. If someone does not know the answer to a question, they say ‘Pass’ and the presenter, (1972–97 Magnus Magnusson, John Humphries 2004-) then asks the next question. If the time for a person’s questions finishes while the presenter is in the middle of a question, he says ‘I’ve started so I’ll finish’, and then continues with the question. People use both these expressions in a humorous way.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

I. mas‧ter‧mind¹ /ˈmɑːstəmaɪnd $ ˈmæstər-/ noun [singular]
someone who plans and organizes a complicated operation, especially a criminal operation:
a criminal mastermind
mastermind of/behind
He is suspected of being the mastermind behind the bombings.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. mastermind² verb [transitive]
to think of, plan, and organize a large, important, and difficult operation:
The project was masterminded by Morris, then aged 29.
Ridley, as commerce secretary, masterminded the privatisation.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

mastermind
n. A person who supplies the intelligence for a project and/or undertakes its management.
Winston Churchill was the mastermind in the war against Hitler.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲