Recent Examples on the Web

Nevertheless, the show proves what a polymath Bayer was—painter, graphic artist, photographer, exhibition designer, advertising guru, architect and landscape architect. Wendy Moonan, Smithsonian Magazine, "The Pioneering Work of Graphic Artist Herbert Bayer," 4 Feb. 2020

No longer just a performer, the polymath is a fashion designer, an amateur architect, an art aficionado, and even an aspiring politician. Bianca Betancourt, Harper's BAZAAR, "Learning How to Reckon with the Artist Formerly Known as Kanye West," 17 Aug. 2020

The great Italian artist and polymath Leonardo Da Vinci was an early proponent of this idea. Hans-dieter Sues, Smithsonian Magazine, "Why This 18th-Century Naturalist Believed He’d Discovered an Eyewitness to the Biblical Flood," 16 Jan. 2020

Also sounding their last notes were musical polymath Andre Previn, Monkees pop star Peter Tork, Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, and R&B artist James Ingram. BostonGlobe.com, "You're using a browser set to private or incognito mode.," 31 Dec. 2019

This year marks what is believed by many to be the 800th birthday of an especially courageous truth seeker, the English polymath Roger Bacon. Richard Gunderman, The Conversation, "The ‘first scientist’s’ 800-year-old tonic for what ails us: The truth," 1 May 2020

The mathematician and polymath John von Neumann initiated the study of the infinite-dimensional matrices that arise from quantum mechanical systems in the 1930s. Quanta Magazine, "Graced With Knowledge, Mathematicians Seek to Understand," 8 Apr. 2020

What reconciles these writers is Miles Malleson, a 20th-century English theatrical polymath and the Mint Theater’s latest discovery. Alexis Soloski, New York Times, "Review: Chekhov and Tolstoy Reunited in ‘Love Stories’," 12 Feb. 2020

Unlike a novelist, who can conjure entire worlds with language, a game maker must often be a polymath, skilled in programming, art, design, and composition. Simon Parkin, The New Yorker, "The Video Game That Lets You Make Video Games," 19 Feb. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'polymath.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.