proficient
adjective
Melinda FarrellCarol DeptollaJoan V. Parker
Did you know?
If you are proficient or adept at something you are skillful—perhaps even expert. Proficient, adept, skillful, and expert are all synonyms, but subtle differences can be discerned between these terms as well. Proficient usually describes pure ability that comes from training and practice ("a proficient writer"). Adept suggests an innate ability as well as a learned skill ("an adept card player"). Skillful suggests being very able at a particular task ("a skillful surgeon"). Expert suggests having a thorough knowledge of a subject as well as being very skillful at working in it ("expert in the martial arts").
Did you know?
Comparing Efficient, Effective, and Proficient
These three words cover some overlapping territory.
Efficient most often describes what is capable of producing desired results without wasting materials, time, or energy. While the word can be applied to both people and things, it is far more commonly applied to things, such as machines, systems, processes, and organizations. The focus of the word is on how little is wasted or lost while the desired results are produced.
Effective typically describes things—such as policies, treatments, arguments, and techniques—that do what they are intended to do. People can also be described as effective when they accomplish what they set out to accomplish, but the word is far more often applied to things.
Proficient typically describes people, and it often is followed by the preposition at. If you are proficient at something, you are very good at it. You are, in fact, so good at doing it that you are unusually efficient when you do it. One can also be proficient in something, such as a language.
Examples of proficient in a Sentence
Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker, 15 Sept. 2003
Dr. Pascual-Leone recruited 15 proficient Braille readers and wired them up so he could measure their somatosensory cortex—the part of the brain that registers and processes the sense of touch.
—Sharon Begley, Wall Street Journal, 11 Oct. 2002
Become proficient at lag putting and you may make a few.
—Dave Pelz, Golf Magazine, July 1996
He has become very proficient at computer programming.
She is proficient in two foreign languages.
Alec Johnson, jsonline.com, 6 Nov. 2025
Being a proficient reader by the end of the third grade is a significant milestone, marked by many experts as a crucial point in a child’s life where not reaching that benchmark could lead to them struggling later in life.
—Caroline Beck, IndyStar, 5 Nov. 2025
From techniques like deep-plane facelifts to the use of innovations such as tranexamic acid for safer, more technically proficient procedures, the field continues to evolve toward precision and care.
—Connie Etemadi, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
The top performing elementary school among the local schools was Ocean Air with 89% of students scoring proficient or advanced in English language arts (ELA) and 92% in math.
—Karen Billing, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for proficient
Cite this Entry
“Proficient.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proficient. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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proficient
adjective
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