dab hand

noun

Definition of dab handnext
chiefly British
as in expert
a person with a high level of knowledge or skill in a field a British mystery writer who's an undisputed dab hand at building suspense

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 dab hand 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 The actor and director remains a dab hand at occasion dressing. — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 13 Sep. 2025 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dab hand
  1. expert
  2. master
  3. scholar
  4. adept
  5. wizard
  6. artist
  7. virtuoso
  8. guru
Noun
  • Shane Hemphill is a landscape design expert and co-founder of Art of the Yard, a Denver company that specializes in water features and garden landscapes.
    — The Spruce, The Spruce, 8 Nov. 2026
  • The planes landed safely at Paris' Orly Airport and bomb disposal experts conducted inspections.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of expert
Noun
  • The votes advanced a master funding agreement for the project and the expansion of a special financing district — which currently includes just the soccer stadium area — to cover most of the land in the 240-acre Railyards.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 11 Nov. 2026
  • In the decade since, UH has been mostly irrelevant, going through two different coaches and one bad extension before hiring Fritz, who has been a master program builder at every stop and every level.
    — Joseph Duarte, Houston Chronicle, 11 Nov. 2026
Definition of master
Noun
  • Historians, scholars and philosophers are stepping in to offer some solutions and warnings.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2026
  • In 1709, the French scholar Antoine Galland was attempting to add a new volume to his wildly popular translation of One Thousand and One Nights, the first edition of its kind for a European audience.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of scholar
Noun
  • Still, the question of what Ebel was doing with his adepts swept through Prussia, dominating the newspapers that had only recently begun to emerge from their eighteenth-century chronicling of obligations to a more modern publicizing role.
    — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Lest things get predictable, Tasjan’s adept at letting the music battle with the lyrics in a way that hints at how any experience is far more complex than we are led to believe.
    — Marissa R. Moss, Rolling Stone, 17 July 2026
Definition of adept
Noun
  • Among the counties now favoring Colom is Forrest County, home to Hattiesburg and named for Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Ku Klux Klan’s first grand wizard.
    — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Forrest County’s Competing Legacies Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Tennessee slave trader who became a Confederate general, later served as the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction.
    — Sam Stevenson, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of wizard
Noun
  • The cumulative effect can be untidy, but what would be truer to an artist in a moment of flux?
    — Walden Green, Pitchfork, 11 Nov. 2026
  • Many of today’s most popular Mexican artists, from Natanael Cano to Fuerza Regida, cite Sanchez as an inspiration.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 11 Nov. 2026
Definition of artist
Noun
  • Composer and piano virtuoso Clara Schumann, whose influence on 19th-century classical music is impossible to quantify.
    — Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026
  • John Mayer is launching his own record label, Sob Rock Records, the singer-songwriter and guitar virtuoso confirmed Thursday, partnering with Universal Music Group’s Mercury Records for the new venture.
    — Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of virtuoso
Noun
  • Jontay began to enjoy a reputation in the league as a market guru.
    — New Yorker, New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2026
  • Julian Brodsky, a cable TV pioneer and financial guru who was a co-founding partner of Comcast more than 60 years ago, has died.
    — Todd Spangler, Variety, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of guru

Browse Nearby Words

dabbling
dab hand
dab hands
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Cite this Entry

“Dab hand.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dab%20hand. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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