dab hand

noun

chiefly British

: expert

Synonyms of dab hand

• expert
• master
• scholar
• adept
• wizard
• artist
• virtuoso
• guru
• authority
• past master

Examples of dab hand in a Sentence

He's a dab hand at cooking.

She's a dab hand in the kitchen.

She's always been a dab hand with a paint brush.

Recent Examples on the Web

Like her spiritual kin Williams and Eleanor, Laila is somewhere in her mid-20s, a cheerful and judgmental motormouth, and a dab hand at merciless, quick-draw gunfights. — Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 5 Nov. 2026

Patrick Gilles and Dorothée Boissier, another husband-and-wife team, are dab hands at breathing characterful sleekness into historic spaces. — Matt Ortile, Vogue, 30 Oct. 2026

All of which curious George, a dab hand at psychological manipulation, coaxes along with the gentlest of nudges. — Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2025

Van Norden, a dab hand with Shakespeare, is a natural for Shaw. — Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2024

Zach is a dab hand at herbal knockout potions and the occasional amateur amputation, and there’s a scene featuring the latter in which Wheatley indulges his twin tastes for deadpan comedy and head-on gross-outs to the extreme. — BostonGlobe.com, 14 Apr. 2021

In addition to the outfits of the characters in her famous self-portraits, American artist Cindy Sherman is also a dab hand at finds for herself. — Lily Templeton, WWD, 3 Sep. 2019

Word History

Etymology

dab entry 4

First Known Use

circa 1828, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for dab hand

• armband
• backhand
• bandstand
• baseband
• broadband
• command
• cropland
• demand
• disband
• dreamland
• expand
• farmhand