as in expert
a person with a high level of knowledge or skill in a field
a movie director who was widely regarded as the past master of suspense
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Recent Examples of past master
There is a certainty to her sentences that sets her alongside past masters (your William Trevors, your Anton Chekhovs) and a singular beauty to her observations.
—
Tomi Obaro, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2024
Coppola, a past master at directing actors, allows his performers – who include Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Aubrey Plaza, and Nathalie Emmanuel – to shamelessly ham it up.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 Sep. 2024
And he is positioned as the chief foreign luminary at the festival’s anniversary tribute to past master Ozu Yasujiro.
—Mark Schilling, Variety, 23 Oct. 2023
The fact that the company is designing a standalone robotaxi speaks to its failures in executing past master plans.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 28 Feb. 2023
Does this past master of starting crazes see the Reddit phenomenon as a long-overdue democratization of the stock market, or a frenzy detached from the fundamentals of investing?
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 22 Mar. 2021
Wonder, a past master of love songs, makes a demand that tests the output of every contemporary pop singer and every jaded fan.
—Armond White, National Review, 25 Nov. 2020
The locked-room mystery—not just a whodunnit but a how-done-it—pays homage to past masters such as John Dickson Carr and Gaston Leroux.
—The Economist, 18 Dec. 2019
When the ensemble made its first national tour, playing Orchestra Hall in September 1992, Marsalis and friends were trying to show that America needed a world-class jazz orchestra that could honor past masters while forging future ones.
—Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, 16 Nov. 2019
Tomi Obaro, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2024
Coppola, a past master at directing actors, allows his performers – who include Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Aubrey Plaza, and Nathalie Emmanuel – to shamelessly ham it up.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 Sep. 2024
And he is positioned as the chief foreign luminary at the festival’s anniversary tribute to past master Ozu Yasujiro.
—Mark Schilling, Variety, 23 Oct. 2023
The fact that the company is designing a standalone robotaxi speaks to its failures in executing past master plans.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 28 Feb. 2023
Does this past master of starting crazes see the Reddit phenomenon as a long-overdue democratization of the stock market, or a frenzy detached from the fundamentals of investing?
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 22 Mar. 2021
Wonder, a past master of love songs, makes a demand that tests the output of every contemporary pop singer and every jaded fan.
—Armond White, National Review, 25 Nov. 2020
The locked-room mystery—not just a whodunnit but a how-done-it—pays homage to past masters such as John Dickson Carr and Gaston Leroux.
—The Economist, 18 Dec. 2019
When the ensemble made its first national tour, playing Orchestra Hall in September 1992, Marsalis and friends were trying to show that America needed a world-class jazz orchestra that could honor past masters while forging future ones.
—Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, 16 Nov. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for past master
Noun
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The expert is also a proponent of boosting fiber intake, noting that the daily goal for adults is between 25 and 35 grams per day.—
Melissa Rudy,
FOXNews.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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Officials in Minnesota, along with criminal justice experts and former federal prosecutors, are increasingly critical of the federal response to the aggressive tactics being used by immigration officers in Minneapolis and the surrounding area.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Dell is her stream's dungeon master, banishing those who don't abide by her terms and steadily rising up the platform's ranks with her sympathetic story and angry-funny screen presence.—
Danielle Parker,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
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Dogs kept some of their hierarchical instincts, replacing alpha wolves with their human masters.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Legal scholars say this framing is intentional.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Jan. 2026
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Take Habermas, whose defense of Israeli ethnic cleansing was protested immediately by such eminent scholars as Adam Tooze and Amia Srinivasan.—
Sean Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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For Sanders, the challenge will be balancing aggression and prudence , avoiding turnovers against a defense adept at disguising coverage, while still pushing the ball deep enough to challenge a typically conservative Browns offense.—
Ben Verbrugge,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Nov. 2025
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But if the destination is appealing and the driver adept, the journey is bound to be worth taking.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
27 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Don’t look too closely behind the curtain because the wizard isn’t a wizard at all.—
Gladys Louise Tyler,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
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Its lead character is Harry Dresden, a professional wizard operating out of the city of Chicago in a world where ghouls, ghosts, werewolves and vampires exist in the shadows of modern society.—
Erik Pedersen,
Oc Register,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Suffused with dread and bathed in reverb, the record captures two virtuosos at their most vulnerable.—
Paul A. Thompson,
Pitchfork,
23 Jan. 2026
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And the first half was a virtuoso blend of aggressiveness and controlling tempo from Payton, as Nix had a couple of deep shots to Marvin Mims and Lil'Jordan Humphrey, but also controlled the game with his legs.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
18 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The actors will deliver quotes from the artists, thereby giving viewers a better understanding of the process and struggles of artists, Challis Davy said.—
Erika I. Ritchie,
Oc Register,
12 Jan. 2026
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Her lips shine, too, with an ombré look in tawny brown hues, an effect created by makeup artist Bella Mayven with Charlotte Tilbury's Lip Cheat pencil in Foxy Brown and Big Lip Plumpgasm gloss in Nudegasm Diamonds.—
Marci Robin,
Allure,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Two years ago, this would have been fanciful AI guru propaganda.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
26 Jan. 2026
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Each mock-series highlights the strength of its respective star — Miss Piggy is a fashion and pseudo-wellness guru, the Swedish Chef has a cooking program, Honeydew and Beaker blow stuff up, and Statler and Waldorf judge it all via a digital focus group.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
26 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Past master.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/past%20master. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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