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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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As content generated by artificial intelligence becomes more common, experts warn that tactics for spreading misinformation are only going to get more sophisticated—and harder to catch.—
Simmone Shah,
Time,
9 July 2025
-
Brighton and Hove Albion have become experts at it.—
Steve Madeley,
New York Times,
9 July 2025
Noun
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Moore connected with Fiorito, then an Arizona State University master of fine arts student, in 2004.—
Laura Gersony,
AZCentral.com,
15 July 2025
-
Prior to running The Pitt's emergency department like a pro, the master was just a med student on ER.—
Shania Russell,
EW.com,
15 July 2025
Noun
-
In addition to being a Sachs scholar, she was named a Gates Scholarship winner — a prestigious award from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.—
Elizabeth Hernandez,
Denver Post,
12 July 2025
-
Robert Osborn, an early thinker on lawn tennis, was also a religious scholar.—
Sam Knight,
New Yorker,
12 July 2025
Noun
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Could these wizards find a way to dump Zeke Nnaji’s contract, too?—
Matt Schubert,
Denver Post,
3 July 2025
-
The wizard will check whether your PC meets the requirements which are not, of course, the same as those needed to upgrade to Windows 11.—
David Phelan,
Forbes.com,
28 June 2025
Noun
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The digital adept also had a nearly eight-year stretch at Teen Vogue.—
Hikmat Mohammed,
Footwear News,
3 Sep. 2019
-
Slot shares this staple of Tottenham counterpart Ange Postecoglou’s attacking principles, with Porro adept at tucking inside to disrupt the opposition shape.—
Andy Jones,
New York Times,
9 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Perhaps the most systematic attempt to bring order to this chaos comes from Google DeepMind, which in July 2024 proposed a framework with five levels of AGI performance: emerging, competent, expert, virtuoso, and superhuman.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
8 July 2025
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Even with Caitlin Clark once again sidelined, the Fever have been able to count on the virtuoso scoring talent of Kelsey Mitchell and the veteran expertise of Natasha Howard to help stabilize them.—
Devin Robertson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 July 2025
Noun
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Now, his granddaughter Isca Greenfield-Sanders has curated a retrospective in New York City that brings light to the artist's work.—
David Morgan
July 11,
CBS News,
11 July 2025
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For more information on the new duet's artists, visit MirandaLambert.com and ChrisStapleton.com.—
Marcus K. Dowling,
The Tennessean,
11 July 2025
Noun
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The mobile network carriers were also excited by the Moto X, though at least partly for self-serving reasons, according to Randall, the supply chain guru.—
Verne Kopytoff,
Fortune,
5 July 2025
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After that, our Senior Beauty Editor Akili King hosted a panel with beauty gurus Amber Nicole, Princess Rese, and Kristen Noel Crawley about representation and the definition of beauty.—
India Espy-Jones,
Essence,
5 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Past master.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/past%20master. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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