PAST MASTER Synonyms: 57 Similar and Opposite Words

past master

noun

Definition of past master

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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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 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 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 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

Some experts point to worsening public health since the 2008 financial crisis, citing factors such as growing obesity, long hospital waiting times, the cost-of-living crisis and other social causes.

— The Week UK, TheWeek, 4 Oct. 2026
The weekly newsletter offers readers savings tips, expert answers to your questions and weekly challenges to help boost savings.

— Jeanne Sahadi, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of expert

Noun

The chain’s restaurants were leased back to it under a 25-year master lease, which included 2% annual escalators, extending until the early 2040s, according to the initial deal terms.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2026
This year’s festival will also include a retrospective on the works of Japanese master filmmaker Kenji Mizoguchi.

— Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of master

Noun

But many scholars, and the justices themselves, argue that public perception is not matched by reality.

— ABC News, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026
Chinese scholars and officials regularly call for improving the benefits provided to rural residents as a means to stimulate domestic demand.

— Carl Minzner, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 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

While Star Wars might be known for laser swords and space wizards, it's always been about weird little dudes doing even weirder things.

— Hayes Madsen, Space.com, 2 Oct. 2026
View gallery - 3 images There was a time when intelligent rings were what your level-three wizard wore in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of wizard

Noun

His only drum teacher, a Dublin jazz player, briefly tried to show a young Mullen how to play like the virtuoso Steve Gadd.

— Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 28 Sep. 2026
Great virtuosi such as violinist Isaac Stern, pianist Van Cliburn, soprano Leontyne Price and hosts of other incredible artists, both American and from abroad, blessed our concert halls with their dazzling artistry.

— Letters to the Editor, Washington Post, 25 Sep. 2026

Definition of virtuoso

Noun

That exhibition featured works by Heu Hwang, Kwon Young-woo, Lee Dong-youb, Park Seo-bo, and Suh Seung-won—a group of artists generally considered to have launched Korean monochrome painting, or dansaekhwa, as a movement.

— Barry Schwabsky, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Working with artists gives us the opportunity to see that process through another creative perspective.

— Kanika Talwar, Footwear News, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of artist

Noun

Dean Martin’s classic Stutz bore the license plate DRUNKY, and early fitness guru Jack LaLanne put REDUCE on his Cadillac’s bumpers.

— Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026
For the occasion Rossi, who launched his brand after years of studying shoemaking under his footwear-guru father Sergio, has retraced the trajectory of his creative process and grouped his designs in a photographic tome published by Rizzoli.

— Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of guru

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pastings

past master

past masters

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“Past master.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/past%20master. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of past master

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