maestro

noun

mae·​stro ˈmī-(ˌ)strō 

plural maestros or maestri ˈmī-ˌstrē 

: a master usually in an art

especially : an eminent composer, conductor, or teacher of music

Synonyms

• ace
• adept
• artist
• authority
• cognoscente
• connoisseur
• crackerjack
• crackajack
• dab [chiefly British]
• dab hand [chiefly British]
• expert
• fiend
• geek
• guru
• hand
• hotshot
• master
• maven
• mavin
• meister
• past master
• proficient
• scholar
• shark
• sharp
• virtuoso
• whiz
• wizard

Examples of maestro in a Sentence

a maestro of the violin

Recent Examples on the Web

Dave Filoni’s New Republic-era movie Release date: Unknown Director: Dave Filoni Animation veteran turned Star Wars maestro Dave Filoni, now also Executive VP and Chief Creative Officer at Lucasfilm, has been directly involved in the development of all the Mandalorian-adjacent Star Wars shows. —Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 21 Dec. 2024

The horror maestro behind Netflix hits like The Haunting of Hill House and The Fall of the House of Usher, as well as the upcoming Exorcist movie, is writing a film based on the classic Batman villain Clayface. —Nick Romano, EW.com, 13 Dec. 2024

Horror maestro King has given the greenlight for the adaptation, which is to be written and directed by Marwa, who has been prolific in low-budget U.S. and UK genre fare to date. —Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 11 Dec. 2024

Bard, molding an ensemble of hummers, resembles an imperious maestro. —Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Italian, literally, master, from Latin magister — more at master

First Known Use

1607, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

maestro

noun

mae·​stro ˈmī-strō 

plural maestros or maestri -ˌstrē 

: a master of an art and especially of music

Etymology

from Italian maestro, literally "master," from Latin magister "master, one who holds a higher political office" — related to magistrate, master