A person who is very good at something and very successful at it while still young — much younger than people expect. A pianist playing with a full orchestra at eleven; a programmer who sold a company at nineteen; a director whose first film wins a prize at twenty-four. The word carries admiration, and often a small doubt underneath: people wonder whether the young person can keep it up, so you will meet phrases like 'the former wunderkind' about someone who did not. It is used most in writing about business, tech, music, film and sport. The word is borrowed straight from German, and it keeps a German feel: in German it is written with a capital W, and the plural can be the German 'Wunderkinder', though 'wunderkinds' is also common in English now. The usual sound in English is 'VOON-der-kint', with a v at the front, though many speakers say 'WUN-der-kind'. Because it is a borrowed, slightly showy word, it belongs in journalism and in lively conversation, not in plain formal reports. Two close English words: 'child prodigy' means a child with an extraordinary gift and is used of much younger children, while 'whiz kid' is more casual and points at cleverness at work. Wunderkind sits between them and can be used of a person in their twenties.

神童、天才兒童；（引申）年輕有為的奇才。台灣媒體常說的「少年天才」「年輕鬼才」就是這個意思。