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
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Recent Examples of dab hand
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
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
Noun
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Just hours after the model’s release, however, major backlash from AI researchers, developers, and policy experts began brewing on social media.—
Sharon Goldman,
Fortune,
10 June 2026
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Other industries, including those involved in producing food and medicine, relied on petrochemicals to produce crucial components, such as plastic pipes, an engineering expert told me.—
Arash Azizi,
The Atlantic,
10 June 2026
Noun
-
In addition, the Casa Sanlorenzo cultural venue opened in 2025 will host two exhibitions, one dedicated to local master artisans and curated by Artemest and another presenting craftspeople from Luxembourg by De Mains De Maîtres Luxembourg.—
Sandra Salibian,
Footwear News,
9 June 2026
-
Jayne and Rabinovitz are both classified master bench jewelers, Jayne said, meaning the two have reached the highest level of professional jeweler, according to the Jewelers of America.—
Emma Hall,
Sacbee.com,
9 June 2026
Noun
-
For modern scholars of religious and social history, cheese is not the most exciting part of this discovery.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 June 2026
-
Last week, a committee of scholars convened by Vanderbilt University released a report on the state of humanities and social sciences scholarship across the United States.—
Gary Saul Morson,
Washington Post,
10 June 2026
Noun
-
Tech pioneer adept at shifting gears Atom Power was co-founded in 2015 by Kouroussis and Ryan Kennedy as a UNC Charlotte incubator, a project that started at the college before spinning off its own company and moving to the Lake Norman area.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Meanwhile, Alouette has become an adept of dye recipes.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Nicholas Galitzine stars as the muscular hero in the new version, which also features Idris Elba as Man-at-Arms Duncan, Camila Mendes as Teela and Jared Leto as the evil wizard Skeletor.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2026
-
The act tonight was the Messthetics, a punk-prog-jazz outfit, featuring the drummer and the bassist from Fugazi (Brendan Canty and Joe Lally), a guitar wizard (Anthony Pirog), and a sax man (James Brandon Lewis).—
Nick Paumgarten,
New Yorker,
8 June 2026
Noun
-
These artists defined their own style in Detroit—raw, soulful, and forward-looking—and eventually captured a global audience.—
Arati Menon,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 June 2026
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In the wake of 2020’s protests, many museums solicited responses from contemporary artists—particularly artists of color; A250 has spawned no such wave of institutional commissions.—
Greg Allen,
ARTnews.com,
7 June 2026
Noun
-
Fleck, who is a virtuoso known for crossing genres, embraced the album as an opportunity to create music supporting a strong vocalist.—
Tiney Ricciardi,
Denver Post,
8 June 2026
-
The guitar virtuoso died days before his 100th birthday.—
Mekishana Pierre,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 June 2026
Noun
-
Kayne is many things, though queen of cashmere, beige’s biggest advocate, lifestyle guru, and Cali-cool designer are her main calling cards.—
Stacia Datskovska,
Footwear News,
9 June 2026
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The professor of turfgrass research at Michigan State University is the grass guru responsible for the quality and durability of the World Cup pitches at the tournament’s 16 venues in North America.—
Ben Church,
CNN Money,
8 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dab hand.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dab%20hand. Accessed 14 Jun. 2026.
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