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expert

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adjective

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an expert fisherman
an experienced fisherman
a pro fisherman
an excellent fisherman
an accomplished fisherman
a skilled fisherman
an expert doctor
an exceptional doctor
a knowledgeable doctor
a smart doctor
a specialized doctor
a superb doctor
an expert author
a professional author
an advanced author
a premier author
an esteemed author
a proficient author
an expert individual
an elite individual
an exceptional individual
an exemplary individual
an extraordinary individual
a special individual
an expert critic
a qualified critic
a superior critic
an elite critic
a senior critic
an official critic

Synonym Chooser

How is the word expert distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of expert are adept, proficient, skilled, and skillful. While all these words mean "having great knowledge and experience in a trade or profession," expert implies extraordinary proficiency and often connotes knowledge as well as technical skill.

expert in the evaluation of wines

In what contexts can adept take the place of expert?

The words adept and expert are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, adept implies special aptitude as well as proficiency.

adept at doing long division

When is proficient a more appropriate choice than expert?

While the synonyms proficient and expert are close in meaning, proficient implies a thorough competence derived from training and practice.

proficient in translating foreign languages

When could skilled be used to replace expert?

Although the words skilled and expert have much in common, skilled stresses mastery of technique.

a skilled surgeon

When is it sensible to use skillful instead of expert?

In some situations, the words skillful and expert are roughly equivalent. However, skillful implies individual dexterity in execution or performance.

skillful drivers

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of expert
Noun
This crisis, which human rights experts have described as a genocide, has also resulted in a moment of reckoning for the West. Hazlitt, 27 Feb. 2025 Since outbreaks of this magnitude occur infrequently, most currently practicing US physicians have never seen a case of measles, according to experts. Neha Mukherjee, CNN, 27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
Courtney Klosterman is a home insights expert at Hippo Home Insurance. Kristine Gill, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Feb. 2025 When the researchers tested the system using videos of 158 real-world cases, 53% of reports written by the surgeons contained discrepancies, compared with 29% of AI reports, as determined by an expert team of reviewers. Nancy Lapid, USA TODAY, 15 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for expert
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expert
Noun
  • The Department Of Education Is Already Being Dismantled, Impacting Student Loan Operations Most legal scholars agree that Trump cannot simply eliminate the Department of Education through executive action.
    Adam S. Minsky, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025
  • Legal scholars question what will happen to the Fed if the Supreme Court says independent agencies are unconstitutional.
    Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 4 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • For highly skilled job seekers, the choice is obvious.
    Sarah Elk, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2025
  • Truly skilled, effective coaches don’t need to call their players names and berate them for messing up and know that doing so makes players afraid to take risks and be creative, critical parts of being a great soccer player.
    Jeff Rueter, The Athletic, 26 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Every master craftsman had their own tools – often specialized and always prized possessions handed down from generation to generation.
    John Sviokla, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2025
  • Raq is a master manipulator who claims to value loyalty above all else, especially from her henchmen brothers Marvin (London Brown) and Lou (Malcolm Mays) and her only son, yet constantly destabilizes the three of them with selfish mind games and power plays that genuinely harm them.
    Robyn Bahr, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • His non-fiction book The Onion Field, published in 1973, would stand as, arguably, his literary masterpiece, a skillful telling of the true tale of a 1963 kidnapping of two LAPD officers and the brutal murder of one of them.
    Greg Evans, Deadline, 28 Feb. 2025
  • Hackman tamped down all of his gritty charm to embody a squirrely surveillance expert, again showcasing a skillful adaptability early in his career.
    David Sims, The Atlantic, 27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • In short, reviewing medical records and bills is a time-consuming, high-pressure task at which legal professionals are not adept.
    Ethan Stone, USA TODAY, 27 Feb. 2025
  • Companies often assume that older workers are less adept at adapting to new technologies.
    Mona Mourshed, Harvard Business Review, 25 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • As anti-aging gurus will tell you, collagen is a large molecule that help gives skin its firm, smooth appearance.
    Alison Escalante, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2025
  • Meghan McCain and Bethenny Frankel are criticizing the aspiring lifestyle guru as Mindy Kaling defended misconceptions surrounding her friend in a recent interview.
    Jay Stahl, USA TODAY, 21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Several Reddit users shared their own similar experiences of having their artistic efforts mistaken for AI.
    Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 4 Mar. 2025
  • Dorian Gray, conceived by former Sydney Theatre Company artistic director Kip Williams, is an electric adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s 19th-century novel, a story of the terror of one man’s vanity, whose portrait bears the scars of his conceit.
    Hannah-Rose Yee, Vogue, 3 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 34% of eighth-grade students and 24% of twelfth-grade students are proficient in math, an essential engineering skill.
    Thomas Bostick, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2025
  • This company is specifically staffed with writers who are proficient in STEM and Ph.D.-level work.
    Rowan Briggs, The Mercury News, 28 Feb. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Expert.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expert. Accessed 11 Mar. 2025.

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