adept 1 of 2

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
As adept at arranging portraiture as igniting flash powder over a night bloom of flowering cactus, Austen also delighted in making gender-bending exposures of female friends. Margaret Hetherman, NBC news, 19 Oct. 2025 No turnovers for the Patriots, who have become adept at protecting the football. Doug Kyed, Boston Herald, 19 Oct. 2025
Noun
The result is that just these English words, representing just this original document, make for a new and somewhat undiscovered book, even to Marxist adepts. Benjamin Kunkel, Harpers Magazine, 28 Mar. 2025 The younger Aes Sedai adept is busy learning the ways of walking in Tel’aran’rhiod, the dreamworld overlaid atop the real one and parallel to the regular, non-magical dreams most people experience. Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for adept
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adept
Adjective
  • Snider navigates the complex intersections of addiction with class, sexuality, masculinity, and family bonds with skilled generosity in this powerful fourth collection.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Nov. 2025
  • The older de Ridder, who turns 23 in January, is originally from Belgium and was one of the best young players in the tough Spanish ACB last season as a skilled four who can defend, move without the ball and knock down shots from the perimeter.
    Sam Vecenie, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • The increase — up from 1 in 36 children in 2020 — continues a long-term trend that experts have largely attributed to better understanding of and screening for the condition.
    Deidre McPhillips, CNN Money, 31 Oct. 2025
  • For something more immersive, the resort brings in expert wellness practitioners for week-long retreats.
    Jacqui Gifford, Travel + Leisure, 31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Kayla Poirier didn’t get the glory that comes associated with scoring a goal, but without a couple skillful touches by the senior, Mahtomedi would no longer have a chance to repeat as state champions.
    Mike Cook, Twin Cities, 29 Oct. 2025
  • The skillful craftsmanship of the artists is amazing, and the story is also great.
    Billboard Japan, Billboard, 28 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Cowley graduated in 1920, and for a year and a half lived an adventurous, impecunious Grub Street life in New York, before a fellowship took him, now married, back to France for a master’s in French.
    Michael Gorra, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2025
  • Rosewood Amsterdam, for example, is an art gallery in its own right, with an expansive collection of more than 1,000 artworks that spotlight both new-generation talent and Dutch masters.
    Tianwei Zhang, Footwear News, 4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • 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
Noun
  • Amenabar seems to root his screenplay on conjectures about the writer’s sexuality, which many scholars consider latterday projection.
    Dennis Harvey, Variety, 31 Oct. 2025
  • Some scholars suggested Trump may be referring to testing weapons delivery systems, not the warheads themselves.
    Ben Smith, semafor.com, 31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • But Kroos retired from all football in summer 2024, and there were concerns at the club this off-season that the squad lacks such experienced heads, after Modric (and fellow long-serving squad member Lucas Vazquez) also left.
    Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 31 Oct. 2025
  • Wes Ostgaard, the hiker who summoned rescuers after finding Ortiz's body, told USA TODAY that the extreme conditions on the mountain that day could have tripped up even the most experienced climbers.
    Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 31 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Palamides, as a physical-comedy virtuoso, loves mess—there’s a splash zone near the front, with audience members wearing plastic ponchos.
    Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
  • D’Angelo was raised in a deeply religious Pentecostal family and got his musical start in the church, becoming a virtuoso at several instruments.
    Andrew R. Chow, Time, 14 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

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

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