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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 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
-
Legislative expert and law professor Chris Micheli said lawmakers frequently include controversial provisions in bills during the early stages of the legislative process.
-
Given the significance of the peace deal, experts said Pakistan will certainly want to leverage its mediation role for economic benefit, particularly in its dealings with allies in Washington and the Gulf.
Noun
-
Owing to lengthy maturation cycles, these inaugural releases are rums influenced by the craft and stewardship of three generations of Mount Gay master blenders.
-
But according to master distiller Brent Elliott, this cask finishing project started well before either of those things were a reality.
Noun
-
It was rediscovered in the late 1990s, but was forgotten again until scholars and advocates pushed for its preservation years later, according to the association.
-
But the outcome, according to scholars, is a clearer, tighter, and more defensible argument.
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.
-
Meanwhile, Alouette has become an adept of dye recipes.
Noun
-
Beasley even lit up the scoreboard consistently across the globe in China, affording him unquestioned credentials as an offensive wizard worldwide.
-
At the time, Soros, along with the financiers Julian Robertson and Michael Steinhardt, defined the public image of hedge-fund managers as investment wizards who made fortunes through huge bets, contrarian calls, iron stomachs, and a willingness to operate close to—or over—the regulatory line.
Noun
-
He was widely celebrated as a virtuoso who nurtured America’s economic well-being and whose nearly every utterance was parsed for clues as to where interest rates, the economy and the financial markets might be headed.
-
The German drum virtuoso wasn’t deeply familiar with the band’s repertoire when Lee and Lifeson first brought her to Toronto to jam.
Noun
-
The artist, Reven Marie Swanson, has art installations across the country, and even some overseas.
-
As the city gears up for America's 250th birthday party, artists at Huddle, a gallery in the Northern Liberties neighborhood, are looking back to the Bicentennial.
Noun
-
But according to fashion guru Tan France, some of those tensions sparked before the cameras even started rolling.
-
The program will be run under Scott Belsky, a longtime digital guru at Adobe and the co-founded of creative platform Behance who has a team of about two dozen at the studio, a fairly large number gives its otherwise efficient staffing.
Cite this Entry
“Past master.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/past%20master. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
