past master

noun

Definition of past masternext
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

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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 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
  1. expert
  2. master
  3. scholar
  4. adept
  5. wizard
  6. virtuoso
  7. artist
  8. guru
Noun
  • In 2008, in Texas, geologist and Petrohawk Energy cofounder Dick Stoneburner—a great name for a shale rock expert—helped pioneer drilling and fracking and led the discovery of the Eagle Ford Shale oil boom in South Texas.
    — Jordan Blum, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2026
  • The Challenges Creating a compelling reason to visit a convenience store is a big challenge for small-format outlets in India, experts said.
    — Priyanka Salve,Jenny Lee, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of expert
Noun
  • Zhang plays optimistic puzzle master Florence, and Sula is Conrad’s estranged daughter and criminal psychologist Astrid.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Ted was accepted into a master’s program in data science at Columbia, but her own acceptance was at UC Berkeley.
    — Ellen O’Connell Whittet, Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of master
Noun
  • Adding to the dark absurdity of the situation was the fact that Seghers’s husband, the Hungarian Marxist scholar László Radványi, was being held in a French internment camp, on the basis that Hungary was a German ally.
    — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
  • This includes — but is not limited to — professors, scholars, research assistants, students, teachers, au pairs and camp counselors.
    — Tarini Mehta, Sacbee.com, 9 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
  • Produced by Hollywood stunt champs 87North, the hard-hitting wizards that have been redefining fight choreography since John Wick, Violent Night 2, like its predecessor, promises heaps of gory and satisfyingly kinetic fight scenes.
    — Joshua Rivera, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2026
  • The team was blessed in absentia by Pope Leo XIV and routinely wanded by the wizard.
    — Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of wizard
Noun
  • What happens when one of the biggest crossover hits of the 21st century gets handed to a couple of banjo virtuosos?
    — SPIN Staff, SPIN, 8 Oct. 2026
  • 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
Definition of virtuoso
Noun
  • The honor recognizes artists whose careers and creative choices illuminate complex, boundary-crossing stories and expand representation in global entertainment.
    — Mathew Scott, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
  • The island’s permanent Art House invites guests—of all ages—to get creative on canvas or pottery with the guidance of its resident artist.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of artist
Noun
  • And Lewis’ combine measurables have always been a major red flag for another local QB guru, Warren McCarty of Warrior Football.
    — Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Another impending free agent, the pitching guru oversaw one of baseball’s best rotations and that aforementioned surprisingly successful bullpen.
    — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of guru

Browse Nearby Words

pastings
past master
past masters
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Cite this Entry

“Past master.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/past%20master. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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