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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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

There are a number of other businesses that may be AI-proof or even benefit from its growth, such as electric utilities, said Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross and an expert in sports business.

— Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2026
The supplement glutathione, given through an IV or an inhaler-like machine called a nebulizer, has not been proven to be safe or effective and could expose firefighters to illness if there is contamination while it's produced, experts say.

— ABC News, ABC News, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of expert

Noun

Furthering the family connection to the Dutch master, van Uylenburgh’s niece, Saskia van Uylenburgh, went on to marry Rembrandt in 1634.

— News Desk, Artforum, 19 Aug. 2026
Farnsworth holds a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications management from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of North Florida.

— Steven Walker, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of master

Noun

Lewis, a housing scholar at Sacred Heart University, said the project grew from her interest in housing inequality in Bridgeport and her desire to conduct research differently.

— Reginald David, Hartford Courant, 19 Aug. 2026
Some scholars report average increases of more than 50 percent, while others suggest that certain households saw their water bills double or even triple.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Aug. 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

And for all the Padres’ successes under private equity wizard Peter Seidler, his biggest bet went bust, the ‘23 Padres missing the playoffs despite his approving MLB’s third-highest payroll.

— Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026
He a notoriously vain, boastful and fame-obsessed wizard well versed in Memory Charms who is recruited by Dumbledore as Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.

— Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of wizard

Noun

Known primarily as a virtuoso sculptor, only a few of Bernini’s paintings have survived, and fewer than twenty are broadly accepted as authentic.

— News Desk, Artforum, 21 Aug. 2026
Peart was a one-of-a-kind virtuoso, one of the greatest drummers rock ever knew, his monstrously complex parts so intrinsic to Rush’s sound that the idea of replacing him long seemed unfathomable.

— Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of virtuoso

Noun

The Cohen Building originally housed the Social Security Administration, an important piece of the New Deal legacy, and contains frescoes painted in the 1940s by famed artist Seymour Fogel on the entrance lobby walls, Okin said.

— Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 20 Aug. 2026
And artists deserve a fair pay percentage for work that assists their employers in making profits.

— Pat Saperstein, Variety, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of artist

Noun

Sarin attack Among those executed in 2018 included guru Shoko Asahara and 12 former members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, which orchestrated the 1995 sarin gas attacks on Tokyo's subway system that killed 14 people.

— CBS News, CBS News, 21 Aug. 2026
Travel guru Wendy Perrin reveals her family’s personal picks for best family vacations and family hotels.

— Lanie Goodman, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of guru

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past master

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Style

“Past master.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/past%20master. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of past master

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