Definition of "mastermind" []

• A highly intelligent person, especially one who plans and directs a complex or difficult project: the mastermind of a robbery. (noun)
• To direct, plan, or supervise (a project or activity). (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Now, more than 50 years later, the "Star Wars" mastermind is returning to the genre for an all-CG film he's producing."
• "A mastermind is leaving mirrored clues about a plan to destroy the Earth amid thefts of a beryllium sphere and oscillation overthruster."
• "Doesn't seem necessary at this point, the main mastermind already plead guilty in military tribunal and asked for the death penalty."