Definition of ADEPTNESS

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

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Neyfakh is an adept broadcaster, an authoritative basso who does not trip over his words, even if the scripts’ long sentences might make more sense on the page than in the ear. — Rumaan Alam, The New Republic, "Fiasco Tries to Make Iran-Contra a Teachable Moment," 4 Feb. 2020 Beilein will put the ball in his hands because Porter has proven -- in just a short time in his burgeoning NBA career -- to be an adept passer and one of the few left who can consistently create quality looks on the offensive end. — Chris Fedor, cleveland, "John Beilein has private talk with rookie Kevin Porter Jr., offers encouragement after costly late-game mistakes," 31 Jan. 2020 When he was hired, Minar was touted as adept at bringing in donations, nearly doubling gifts and pledges in his first five years at American. — Holly V. Hays, Indianapolis Star, "Franklin College president fired after Wisconsin arrest on suspicion of child enticement," 13 Jan. 2020 And according to Douglas Bird, an anthropologist at Pennsylvania State University in State College, children among the Hadza of Tanzania are adept foragers. — Colin Barras, Science | AAAS, "Playing with tools—and weapons—was a ‘normal’ part of prehistoric childhood," 18 Dec. 2019 The world had bloviating and media-adept politicians long before Twitter, obnoxious celebrities before Instagram, and tabloid-spread lies before Facebook. — Adam Lashinsky, Fortune, "Stop Saying Social Media Has Changed Everything," 16 Dec. 2019 Maren Morris, GIRL Morris further cemented her status as an adept storyteller and powerhouse vocalist on her sophomore album, GIRL. — Billboard Staff, Billboard, "The 50 Best Albums of 2019: Staff Picks," 10 Dec. 2019 The supremely adept Latvian artist’s pictures are six feet high and either eight or 11½ feet wide. — Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, "In the galleries: ‘Sea of Change’ exhibition sets the voyage on a different course," 6 Dec. 2019 Verdell is an adept pass protector, fearless in taking on blitzing linebackers, chipping edge rushers or squaring his shoulders to slow down interior linemen. — James Crepea | The Oregonian/oregonlive, oregonlive, "Oregon Ducks RB CJ Verdell willing to take on all comers in pass protection," 30 Nov. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun 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, "'Emma': Film Review," 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, "The Toughest Job in America? Boeing’s New CEO Faces an Epic To-Do List as He Takes the Helm Today," 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, "Josh Allen is just a bit of improvement away from being a fantasy football regular.," 14 June 2019 As ever, Mr Putin proved adept at taking advantage of American mistakes. — The Economist, "Russia and Turkey agree to carve up northern Syria," 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, "Creative Types Reserve a Special Corner of the Brain for Dreaming Big," 22 May 2019 Martin has even mentioned having the 6-foot-11 Porter, with his adept passing skills, bring the ball upcourt to initiate offense. — Aaron Reiss, kansascity, "Mizzou's Porter will help make SEC basketball even more competitive than last season," 28 June 2018 The Volvo is a reasonably able cargo-toter, but the interior dimensions are a little less adept at carrying people. — Ben Stewart, Popular Mechanics, "Cargo Showdown: Which Crossover SUV Is Best for Hauling Your Stuff?," 4 Aug. 2018 The latest edition kicked off Tuesday in Mountain View, Calif., where the Internet giant showed off how its Assistant, available on phones and its smart speaker Google Home line, was getting more adept at mimicking human conversation. — Jefferson Graham, ajc, "Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant were asked 150 questions. Here's who got the most right," 9 May 2018

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.