adept

adjective

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\ ə-ˈdept

also ˈa-ˌdept

Definition of adept

(Entry 1 of 2)

: thoroughly proficient : expert an adept negotiator He's adept at fixing computers.

adept

noun

ad·ept | \ ˈa-ˌdept

, ə-ˈdept

, a-ˈdept \

Definition of adept (Entry 2 of 2)

: a highly skilled or well-trained individual : expert an adept at chess

Other Words from adept Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More About adept

Other Words from adept

Adjective

adeptly \ ə-ˈdep-(t)lē

, a- \ adverb

She dealt with the changes adeptly.

adeptness \ ə-ˈdep(t)-nəs

, a- \ noun

Choose the Right Synonym for adept

Adjective

proficient, adept, skilled, skillful, expert mean having great knowledge and experience in a trade or profession. proficient implies a thorough competence derived from training and practice. proficient in translating foreign languages adept implies special aptitude as well as proficiency. adept at doing long division skilled stresses mastery of technique. a skilled surgeon skillful implies individual dexterity in execution or performance. skillful drivers expert implies extraordinary proficiency and often connotes knowledge as well as technical skill. expert in the evaluation of wines

Examples of adept in a Sentence

Adjective Madison, Jefferson's lifelong friend, collaborator, and political ally, was quizzical and skeptical. His mind was less capacious and less elevated than Jefferson's, but more … original, and instinctively contrary. Less learned than Jefferson, his verbal skills inferior, he was almost pedantically alert to inner complications, and so, though less adept a politician, he was more consistent. — Bernard Bailyn, To Begin the World Anew, 2003 Three small figurines carved of ivory from mammoth tusks have been found in a cave in southwestern Germany, providing stronger evidence that human ancestors were already adept at figurative art more than 30,000 years ago, an archaeologist is reporting today. — John Noble Wilford, New York Times, 18 Dec. 2003 The Angels exploited center-fielder Bernie Williams's weak throwing arm in the division series against the Yankees and are adept at scampering from first to third on hits to the outfield. — Jack Curry, New York Times, 20 Oct. 2002 Barnum was especially adept at pulling back one curtain after another, keeping the audience in a state of panting uncertainty, perpetually postponing the revelation of what was "really" going on. — Jackson Lears, New Republic, 12 Nov. 2001 He's adept in several languages. he's an adept pitcher, and the team is lucky to have him Noun Once safely back in Paris, and having attained his majority, the poet squandered his inheritance with an adept's fervor … — Nicholas Delbanco, Harper's, September 2004 They recruited computational chemists, software engineers, AI experts, and various other computer adepts, all of whom put their monster minds together to create an automated reasoning system that could inspect vast amounts of chemical data quickly and point the finger at potential new drug compounds. — Ed Regis, Wired, June 2000 even by the standards of Washington, he's an adept at political intrigue and power politics See More

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective That’s partially by design: Claudia, a petite 32-year-old who has been in limbo in Tijuana for over a year while waiting her turn to seek asylum, has become adept at keeping a low profile in a city that ranks among the most dangerous in the world. — Eli Cahan, Rolling Stone, 23 July 2022 Data protection and informed consent are other concerns as robots become more adept at collecting information, even tracking facial expressions. — Matt Fuchs, Fortune, 12 July 2022 The best part is, your kids may be even more adept than you at making the technology work, giving you a break from bearing all of the responsibility of staying connected. — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 25 May 2022 No one is more adept at evading taxes than the 1%, or at achieving changes in the tax code that benefit them legally. — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2021 Other investment firms proved more adept at navigating Klarna’s rise and fall, cashing in before the startup’s humbling comedown to reap hundreds of millions of dollars in profit, according to people familiar with the matter and PitchBook data. — Ben Dummett, WSJ, 11 July 2022 Independent human noses proved quite adept at pinpointing the two friends out of the group. — Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 6 July 2022 Over the course of its first two seasons, Love Is Blind has proved adept at producing couples that last long after filming wraps, however improbably. — Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 23 June 2022 So far, Rutschman has proven to be adept at both for the Orioles. — Andy Kostka, Baltimore Sun, 23 June 2022 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Andela is now accepting applications from senior developers across the continent adept in the most in-demand web frameworks and program languages. — Yomi Kazeem, Quartz Africa, 1 July 2020 Last season, Brown averaged 20.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists while proving adept at penetrating and getting to the free throw line. — Bruce Pascoe, azcentral, 6 Apr. 2020 Trump, another New York billionaire adept in handling the hometown press, took particular glee in watching Bloomberg's performance Wednesday, two people who spoke to him said. — Anchorage Daily News, 21 Feb. 2020 Unlike Greta Gerwig, who reimagined Little Women and gave it a contemporary subtext, de Wilde and Catton deliver a largely faithful and unchallenging adaptation, beautifully staged and sharply acted by a cast adept at balancing wit and romance. — Caryn James, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Feb. 2020 From those who know him well, Calhoun gets high marks as both a smooth operator, adept at making the numbers work, and as a kind of Mr. Fix-It. — Erik Sherman, Fortune, 13 Jan. 2020 The Bills addressed some of Allen’s needs by adding John Brown, a dangerous deep threat, and Cole Beasley, who’s adept at getting open on short and intermediate routes. — Bennie Contrino, Sports Illustrated, 14 June 2019 As ever, Mr Putin proved adept at taking advantage of American mistakes. — The Economist, 24 Oct. 2019 Brain activity of the creative adepts and controls was similar when imagining the next 24 hours but to the researchers’ surprise, the creative group alone engaged the dorsomedial default network when imagining events further into the future. — Knvul Sheikh, Scientific American, 22 May 2019 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'adept.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for adept

Adjective

derivative of adept entry 2

Noun

borrowed from New Latin adeptus "one who has attained a high degree of proficiency (as in alchemy or hermetic philosophy)," going back to Latin, "having attained," past participle of adipīscī "to arrive at, attain," from ad- ad- + apīscī "to seize hold of, obtain," perhaps an inchoative derivative from the base of apere "to join" — more at apt entry 1