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
-
The federal gas tax has also remained unchanged since 1993, which experts say has already eroded the Highway Trust Fund’s purchasing power when accounting for inflation.—
Wyatte Grantham-Philips,
Chicago Tribune,
14 May 2026
-
But legal experts say Uber’s proposal to cap attorney compensation — which would apply to all car accident cases, not just those involving rideshare vehicles — risks shutting poor people who can’t afford to pay a lawyer up front out of courthouses.—
Sacbee.com,
Sacbee.com,
13 May 2026
Noun
-
Brown holds a bachelor’s degree in animal sciences from Mississippi State University and a master’s degree in business from Louisiana State University Shreveport.—
Steven Walker,
The Orlando Sentinel,
12 May 2026
-
The university will also suspend new admission into the bachelor of arts in anthropology and the masters of engineering and masters of science in materials science and engineering to rework curriculum through an interdisciplinary lens.—
Maven Navarro,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
12 May 2026
Noun
-
Michael Socolow, a media scholar and a professor of communication and journalism at the University of Maine, joins The Excerpt to share his insights.—
Dana Taylor,
USA Today,
13 May 2026
-
As reading scores tumbled over the past decade, parents, scholars and literacy advocates pushed for teaching methods that align with decades of research about how kids learn to read — largely by sounding out words.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
13 May 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
-
The brick-and-mortar Harbaugh gets to face off against scheme wizard Sean McVay.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
16 May 2026
-
Since co-founding Vampire Weekend 20 years ago and producing the band’s first three albums, Rostam Batmanglij has enjoyed a unique profile as a pop songwriter and studio wizard, especially for a guy whose sound never really left his old band’s highbrow sensibilities behind.—
Jon Dolan,
Rolling Stone,
14 May 2026
Noun
-
To call a musician a virtuoso can be double-edged.—
Justin Davidson,
Vulture,
29 Apr. 2026
-
In positioning Mollestad as an exploratory team player, its six tracks reveal her chops well beyond that of a showboating virtuoso.—
Joshua Minsoo Kim,
Pitchfork,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
For the cover of the May 25, 2026, issue, the artist Kadir Nelson decided to paint a tribute to the city’s budding artists.—
Françoise Mouly,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
-
The question turned into an accidental personality test, exposing some of each artist’s values.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
18 May 2026
Noun
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As for who is running this retreat, Rick Edwards is the concierge, and Ashley Edelman is the wellness guru and director.—
Alejandra Gularte,
Vulture,
11 May 2026
-
Evan Miyakawa, a college basketball analytics guru who tracks transfer portal spending, initially estimated the market had increased 35% over last year.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Past master.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/past%20master. Accessed 18 May. 2026.
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