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
-
Some experts say the animal may have lost its way while swimming after a shoal of herring or during migration.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 Apr. 2026
-
But that wasn’t the case thanks to a few expert pats of Charlotte Tilbury’s popular setting powder — a product that’s been in my rotation for years.—
Izzy Baskette,
PEOPLE,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Carlock and Means are masters at fourth-wall-breaking structure and winking, metatextual dialogue, and their ability to balance the goofiness of the series’ diversions with its straightforwardly heartwarming main narrative made each episode a breezy watch.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
14 Apr. 2026
-
Consequently, the most famous masters of this era, like Peter Abelard, made their careers, in part, by cutting down competitors.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
As one of the nation’s most consequential legal thinkers and scholars, Heather Gerken has long directed her fierce intellect toward defending free and fair elections, a strong civic architecture, and the rule of law.—
Elizabeth Alexander,
Time,
15 Apr. 2026
-
Legal scholars hinge that false opinion on their false understanding of grammar.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
15 Apr. 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
-
Every version of Merlin the wizard, spanning an expansive gender spectrum.—
Jaclyn Cosgrove,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Daniel Bernhardt is Deathstalker, a legendary swordsman stuck with a cursed amulet who befriends swamp monsters and teams with a mini wizard (voiced by Patton Oswalt) to stop a dark magic from ruling the land.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Other guitar virtuosos might crave at least a little downtime between concluding a Las Vegas concert residency with one band and launching a national tour with another band, not but Joe Satriani.—
George Varga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Also appearing on the album are American composer Elliot Cole on synthesizer, French composer Benoit Rolland on electro-acoustics and Bangladeshi tabla virtuoso Mir Naqibul Islam.—
Arts Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
That kind of popularity and radiant goodness produces a lineage of artists but doesn’t have the crowd appeal of a lone genius who invents a flying machine or pulls a seventeen-foot sculpture out of a block of marble.—
Zachary Fine,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Not artists — nurses, teachers, baristas Imas is careful to distinguish his argument from a romantic vision of a world full of painters and performers.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
19 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Just over one week later, the finance guru posted a follow-up clip featuring the same caller.—
Zoey Lyttle,
PEOPLE,
13 Apr. 2026
-
Known for his exhaustive preparation, the righty-swinging Martinez earned a reputation as a hitting guru during his playing days from 2011-24.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
8 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Past master.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/past%20master. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.
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