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expert

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adjective

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Synonym Chooser

How is the word expert distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of expert are adept, proficient, skilled, and skillful. While all these words mean "having great knowledge and experience in a trade or profession," expert implies extraordinary proficiency and often connotes knowledge as well as technical skill.

expert in the evaluation of wines

In what contexts can adept take the place of expert?

The words adept and expert are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, adept implies special aptitude as well as proficiency.

adept at doing long division

When is proficient a more appropriate choice than expert?

While the synonyms proficient and expert are close in meaning, proficient implies a thorough competence derived from training and practice.

proficient in translating foreign languages

When could skilled be used to replace expert?

Although the words skilled and expert have much in common, skilled stresses mastery of technique.

a skilled surgeon

When is it sensible to use skillful instead of expert?

In some situations, the words skillful and expert are roughly equivalent. 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 expert
Noun
The update also included a significant reassessment of the state of the world’s birds, which involved thousands of experts over a nine-year period. Nell Lewis, CNN Money, 10 Oct. 2025 Some experts include all of Indonesia in the Ring of Fire, while others exclude its western islands, placing them in the Alpide belt. Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
Subscribe to the Life Kit newsletter for expert advice on love, money, relationships and more. Brittney Melton, NPR, 9 Oct. 2025 In a modern society, that third party is an expert regulator who investigates or anticipates problems in their area of expertise and then makes rules designed to solve these problems. Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for expert
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expert
Noun
  • Amber has since earned her master's in social work from Louisiana State University (LSU), per the family's Instagram.
    Emily Weaver, PEOPLE, 15 Oct. 2025
  • Zarco trained Abdiel Iván Batista, a master jungle rescue instructor who is the director of the Chagres Survival School, CEO of the Safe Jungles Foundation and member of the Panamanian Red Cross First Aid Corps.
    Kit Bernardi, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Kirk Baxter’s arrhythmic cutting is designed around quicksilver shifts that, along with Barry Ackroyd’s restlessly attentive, mostly handheld camerawork, allow Bigelow to redirect our attention with virtuoso command.
    David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Approximately 90 percent of formalwear garments are manufactured in Asia, including in China, Vietnam, the Philippines, India, Myanmar and other countries that have the skilled labor and infrastructure needed to produce them.
    Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2025
  • If your Wi-Fi is protected by a weak password or uses outdated encryption, a skilled attacker might gain access without ever stepping inside your house.
    Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The Norwegian princess married the spiritual guru in a three-day wedding in Norway in August 2024 in a celebration attended by family and friends, including her royal relatives.
    Janine Henni, PEOPLE, 8 Oct. 2025
  • As for Stack, the album bumped him into a new stratosphere as a studio guru — one who had racked up credits with HAIM, Empress Of and Kacy Hill, but never a pop star of Lorde’s acclaim.
    Lyndsey Havens, Billboard, 6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • As if that wasn’t enough, Twenty One Pilots also continues to demonstrate a skillful way of designing TikTok- and Instagram story-ready moments for fans of all flavors.
    Theoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 9 Oct. 2025
  • Ragnar is one of the very best Nordic crime writers, as skillful in thrillers like this series as in murder mystery stories.
    Anders de la Motte, PEOPLE, 28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Cooper as an actor has always been adept at comedy, and here in the standard best friend supporting role, exhibits again some exquisite timing, as does the wonderful Day, who memorably nails her all too brief few scenes.
    Pete Hammond, Deadline, 11 Oct. 2025
  • Advertisement Much like Anderson does, Aster also juxtaposes the ineptitude of his white protagonist with an adept person of color.
    Robert Daniels, Time, 10 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Then again, even the fictional boarding school for witches and wizards in the Harry Potter series did not have a production line like Barcelona’s academy.
    Laia Cervelló Herrero, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2025
  • They’re not confronted with wizards.
    Sara Merican, Deadline, 10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The event was conceived as part of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salem’s Vision 2030 strategy to position KSA as a viable option for future international cultural and artistic events.
    Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 11 Oct. 2025
  • The benefits of Unreal Machine are also artistic, Di Figlia argued.
    John Hopewell, Variety, 11 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Expert.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expert. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.

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