masterful

1 accomplished with trained ability a masterful performance of a difficult piece for the violin Synonyms adroit, artful, bravura, deft, delicate, dexterous (also dextrous), expert, skillful, masterly, practiced (also practised), virtuoso, workmanlikeRelated Words facile, smooth; artistic, creative, fancy, ingenious, neat; adept, clever, cunning; able, adequate, capable, competentNear Antonyms awkward, clumsy, crude, klutzy; ineffective, ineffectual; incompetent, ineptAntonyms amateur, amateurish, artless, rude, unprofessional, unskillful

2 fond of ordering people around a masterful coworker who liked to tell other people how to do their jobs Synonyms authoritarian, authoritative, autocratic (also autocratical), despotic, dictatorial, domineering, imperious, bossy, overbearing, peremptory, tyrannical (also tyrannic), tyrannousRelated Words arrogant, assumptive, disdainful, fastuous, haughty, highfalutin (also hifalutin), high-and-mighty, high-hat, huffy, important, lofty, lordly, overweening, presuming, presumptuous, pretentious, proud, self-asserting, supercilious, superior, toplofty (also toploftical), uppish, uppity; commanding, controlling, dictating, regimental; arbitrary, high-handed, imperial; directorial, magisterial; aggressive, assertive, self-assertive; imperative; conceited, narcissistic, pompous, vain; all-powerful, almighty, omnipotent; firm, sternNear Antonyms humble, meek, modest, unassuming; amenable, docile, obedient, tractable; indecisive, irresolute; acquiescent, compliant, passive, resigned, submissive, yielding

3 having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude a masterful businesswoman who didn't hesitate to step on a lot of people as she climbed the ladder of success Synonyms assumptive, bumptious, cavalier, chesty, haughty, highfalutin (also hifalutin), high-and-mighty, high-handed, high-hat, huffish, huffy, imperious, important, lofty, lordly, arrogant, overweening, peremptory, pompous, presuming, presumptuous, pretentious, self-asserting, self-assertive, sniffy, stiff-necked, supercilious, superior, toplofty (also toploftical), uppish, uppityRelated Words authoritarian, bossy, dominant, dominating, domineering, magisterial, pontifical, pontificating; condescending, disdainful, patronizing; impertinent, impudent, saucy; snobbish, snobby, snooty; blusterous, blustery, boastful, bombastic, braggart, bragging, braggy, cocky, swaggering, vain, vainglorious; complacent, conceited, egocentric, egoistic (also egoistical), egotistic (or egotistical), hubristic, narcissistic, orgulous, prideful, proud, self-affected, self-applauding, self-centered, self-complacent, self-conceited, self-pleased, self-satisfied, smug, stuck-up; self-flattering, self-loving, self-promoting; brash, forward, uninhibited, unreserved; extroverted (also extraverted), immodestNear Antonyms bashful, cowering, cringing, demure, diffident, introverted, mousy (or mousey), overmodest, self-critical, self-doubting, sheepish, shrinking, shy, subdued, timid; acquiescent, compliant, deferential, meek, passive, submissive, unaggressive, unassertive, unassuming, unobtrusive, yielding; quiet, reserved, retiringAntonyms humble, lowly, modest, unarrogant, unpretentious

4 having or showing exceptional knowledge, experience, or skill in a field of endeavor a president who was celebrated as a masterful communicator of his administration's policies Synonyms accomplished, ace, adept, compleat, complete, consummate, crack, crackerjack, educated, experienced, expert, good, great, master, proficient, masterly, practiced (also practised), professed, skilled, skillful, versed, veteran, virtuosoRelated Words adroit, clever, deft, dexterous (also dextrous), handy, slick, sure-handed; gifted, talented; polished, refined; effective, effectual, efficient, workmanlike; able, capable, competent, employable, fit, fitted, habile, qualified; educated, knowledgeable, schooled, taught, trained, tutored; all-around (also all-round), well-rounded; long-term, old; multiskilled, multitalentedNear Antonyms incapable, incompetent, inept, unable, unfit, unfitted, unqualified, weak; artless, crude, rude; ineffective, ineffectual, inefficient; talentless, ungifted, untalented; ignorant, unschooled, untaught, untrained, untutored; beginning, green, inexperienced, new, raw, unseasoned, untested, untried, would-be; primitive, rough, unpolished; awkward, clumsy, ham-fisted, ham-handed, heavy-handedAntonyms amateur, amateurish, inexperienced, inexpert, jackleg, unprofessional, unseasoned, unskilled, unskillful