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adept

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noun

Synonym Chooser

How is the word adept distinct from other similar adjectives?

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

adept at doing long division

When is it sensible to use expert instead of adept?

While in some cases nearly identical to adept, expert implies extraordinary proficiency and often connotes knowledge as well as technical skill.

expert in the evaluation of wines

When is proficient a more appropriate choice than adept?

In some situations, the words proficient and adept are roughly equivalent. However, proficient implies a thorough competence derived from training and practice.

proficient in translating foreign languages

In what contexts can skilled take the place of adept?

The words skilled and adept can be used in similar contexts, but skilled stresses mastery of technique.

a skilled surgeon

When might skillful be a better fit than adept?

The meanings of skillful and adept largely overlap; 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 adept
Adjective
Coach Mikey Varas talked in the preseason about his players becoming adept at picking and applying any of three solutions in real time — go through, over or around an opponent. Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 July 2025 Noni Madueke is adept at doing the same, arriving on the right wing (with Nkunku himself switching from right to left) before finishing the game on the left during his cameo — as shown below. Mark Carey, New York Times, 11 July 2025
Noun
Perhaps Sheridan’s greatest magic trick occurs on Landman, where the adept acting of Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Hamm make the case that Thornton’s oil-field fixer and Hamm’s billionaire are the true American martyrs. Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 9 Mar. 2025 Around him, dense as a swarm of tiny insects, float tiny images of fellow adepts engaged in all manner of outré shenanigans. Holland Cotter, New York Times, 26 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for adept
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adept
Adjective
  • Ride horseback with local gauchos (skilled horsemen) near the quaint towns of Cachi or Cafayate.
    Carola Fresno, Travel + Leisure, 2 Aug. 2025
  • The cobot market is projected to grow from $1.9 billion in 2024 to $11.8 billion by 2030—but skilled operators remain scarce, creating wage premiums in automation-heavy regions.
    Trond Arne Undheim, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • Legal experts on religion cases expect the court will side with the Rastafarian.
    Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 2 Aug. 2025
  • An emergency mental health crisis hold isn’t enough to stop someone from buying a gun, though, according to experts who spoke to the Review Journal.
    Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 2 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Literacy expert Molly Ness, PhD, who was interviewed as part of her partnership with Amazon, notes that 65 percent of fourth graders aren’t reading at a proficient level.
    Kara Nesvig, Parents, 24 July 2025
  • The law doesn’t specify a grade level for instruction but calls for all students to be proficient.
    Ashley Fredde, Idaho Statesman, 24 July 2025
Noun
  • There’s also a potential downside to the biggest upside: ownership of the masters.
    Todd Longwell, Variety, 30 July 2025
  • Herold received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s in educational leadership from Indiana University-Bloomington.
    Carole Carlson, Chicago Tribune, 29 July 2025
Adjective
  • The result is a skillful balance between dewy and glossy, blushy and gleamy.
    Annie Blackman, Allure, 18 July 2025
  • But despite those skillful trappings, the story soon feels ponderous.
    Dennis Harvey, Variety, 11 July 2025
Noun
  • But true seasonal scholars know autumn actually begins when Bath & Body Works drops their fall candle collection—and something inside us shifts.
    Katie Ann Lehman, StyleCaster, 25 July 2025
  • International conferences dedicated to the genre attract dancers, musicians and scholars from around the world.
    Wilfredo José Burgos Matos, The Conversation, 25 July 2025
Adjective
  • And a pack of experienced rain-dancers waiting to pounce.
    Kanzah Maktoum, Forbes.com, 3 Aug. 2025
  • Gill also notes that experienced professionals can bring wisdom and context that go beyond the checklist of transactions involved in a sale.
    Andrea Riquier, USA Today, 3 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • But the question remained: Why would one of music’s most acclaimed and elusive virtuosos take a high school gig from this kid at all?
    David Kushner, Rolling Stone, 20 July 2025
  • An international accordion virtuoso will perform at 7:30 p.m. July 21 in the Normandy Room of the Elmhurst American Legion Post, 310 W. Butterfield Road, Elmhurst.
    Melinda Moore, Chicago Tribune, 17 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Adept.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adept. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.

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