Adept Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

: thoroughly proficient : expert an adept negotiator He's adept at fixing computers. adept. noun. ad·​ept | ... Login SignUp Hello, Games&Quizzes Thesaurus WordoftheDay Features BuyingGuide M-WBooks JoinMWU MyWordsMyWords ViewRecents Account LogOut adept adjective SaveWord \ə-ˈdept alsoˈa-ˌdept \ Definitionofadept (Entry1of2) :thoroughlyproficient:expert anadeptnegotiatorHe'sadeptatfixingcomputers. adept noun ad·​ept |\ˈa-ˌdept ,ə-ˈdept ,a-ˈdept\ Definitionofadept (Entry2of2) :ahighlyskilledorwell-trainedindividual:expert anadeptatchess OtherWordsfromadept Synonyms&Antonyms ChoosetheRightSynonym MoreExampleSentences LearnMoreAboutadept OtherWordsfromadept Adjective adeptly \ ə-​ˈdep-​(t)lē ,a-​ \ adverb Shedealtwiththechangesadeptly. adeptness \ ə-​ˈdep(t)-​nəs ,a-​ \ noun Synonyms&Antonymsforadept Synonyms:Adjective accomplished, ace, compleat, complete, consummate, crack, crackerjack, educated, experienced, expert, good, great, master, masterful, masterly, practiced (alsopractised), professed, proficient, skilled, skillful, versed, veteran, virtuoso Synonyms:Noun ace, artist, authority, cognoscente, connoisseur, crackerjack (alsocrackajack), dab [chieflyBritish], dabhand [chieflyBritish], expert, fiend, geek, guru, hand, hotshot, maestro, master, maven (alsomavin), meister, pastmaster, proficient, scholar, shark, sharp, virtuoso, whiz, wizard Antonyms:Adjective amateur, amateurish, inexperienced, inexpert, jackleg, unprofessional, unseasoned, unskilled, unskillful Antonyms:Noun amateur, inexpert, nonexpert VisittheThesaurusforMore  ChoosetheRightSynonymforadept Adjective proficient,adept,skilled,skillful,expertmeanhavinggreatknowledgeandexperienceinatradeorprofession.proficientimpliesathoroughcompetencederivedfromtrainingandpractice. proficientintranslatingforeignlanguages adeptimpliesspecialaptitudeaswellasproficiency. adeptatdoinglongdivision skilledstressesmasteryoftechnique. askilledsurgeon skillfulimpliesindividualdexterityinexecutionorperformance. skillfuldrivers expertimpliesextraordinaryproficiencyandoftenconnotesknowledgeaswellastechnicalskill. expertintheevaluationofwines ExamplesofadeptinaSentence Adjective Madison,Jefferson'slifelongfriend,collaborator,andpoliticalally,wasquizzicalandskeptical.HismindwaslesscapaciousandlesselevatedthanJefferson's,butmore…original,andinstinctivelycontrary.LesslearnedthanJefferson,hisverbalskillsinferior,hewasalmostpedanticallyalerttoinnercomplications,andso,thoughlessadeptapolitician,hewasmoreconsistent. —BernardBailyn,ToBegintheWorldAnew,2003 ThreesmallfigurinescarvedofivoryfrommammothtuskshavebeenfoundinacaveinsouthwesternGermany,providingstrongerevidencethathumanancestorswerealreadyadeptatfigurativeartmorethan30,000yearsago,anarchaeologistisreportingtoday. —JohnNobleWilford,NewYorkTimes,18Dec.2003 TheAngelsexploitedcenter-fielderBernieWilliams'sweakthrowingarminthedivisionseriesagainsttheYankeesandareadeptatscamperingfromfirsttothirdonhitstotheoutfield. —JackCurry,NewYorkTimes,20Oct.2002 Barnumwasespeciallyadeptatpullingbackonecurtainafteranother,keepingtheaudienceinastateofpantinguncertainty,perpetuallypostponingtherevelationofwhatwas"really"goingon. —JacksonLears,NewRepublic,12Nov.2001 He'sadeptinseverallanguages. he'sanadeptpitcher,andtheteamisluckytohavehim Noun OncesafelybackinParis,andhavingattainedhismajority,thepoetsquanderedhisinheritancewithanadept'sfervor… —NicholasDelbanco,Harper's,September2004 Theyrecruitedcomputationalchemists,softwareengineers,AIexperts,andvariousothercomputeradepts,allofwhomputtheirmonstermindstogethertocreateanautomatedreasoningsystemthatcouldinspectvastamountsofchemicaldataquicklyandpointthefingeratpotentialnewdrugcompounds. —EdRegis,Wired,June2000 evenbythestandardsofWashington,he'sanadeptatpoliticalintrigueandpowerpolitics SeeMore RecentExamplesontheWeb:Adjective SchoolsbecameadeptatvirtualclasseswhentheCOVID-19pandemicshutdownschools,andmostdistrictscalledWednesdayane-learningdayforstudentswhowillreportvirtually. — CaroleCarlson,chicagotribune.com,1Feb.2022 Adaptingtothesituation,thecrewbecameadeptatconfiguringshootsthatwouldseem,toaviewer,entirelynormal. — CaileyRizzo,Travel+Leisure,7Jan.2022 Evenastheconsequencesoftheseearlystepsslowlyunfurled,KalkhovenandWarnerbecameadeptatlegaltaxavoidance. — PaulKiel,ProPublica,8Dec.2021 However,manyorganizationsbecameadeptatconductingmeetingsandattendingconferencesvirtuallyduringthepandemic. — PhillipMolnar,SanDiegoUnion-Tribune,10Sep.2021 TheJaneseducatedthemselvesaboutobstetricsandgynecologyandbecameadeptatcounselingwomenwhoneededtheirhelp. — MichaelKazin,TheNewRepublic,30July2021 RogerRosko,whoboughthisfirstNissanLeafEVfouryearsandnowhastwoothers,hascloselytrackedtheproliferationofchargingstationsintheTwinCitiesandbecameadeptatplanningtripsaroundthem. — MikeHughlett,StarTribune,12June2021 Thetoweringgoliathsevenbecameadeptatswattingtheinsectsoutoftheairwiththeirtrunks,saidMikeMcClure,thezoo’sgeneralcurator. — ChristineCondon,baltimoresun.com,25May2021 Ecstatic,Lewiscalledtwoclosefriends,ColinSibbernsenandCharlieSpeicher,bothofwhomarehighlyadeptintheoutdoors. — BenjaminAlvaPolley,OutsideOnline,12Jan.2022 RecentExamplesontheWeb:Noun Andelaisnowacceptingapplicationsfromseniordevelopersacrossthecontinentadeptinthemostin-demandwebframeworksandprogramlanguages. — YomiKazeem,QuartzAfrica,1July2020 Lastseason,Brownaveraged20.7points,6.2reboundsand4.9assistswhileprovingadeptatpenetratingandgettingtothefreethrowline. — BrucePascoe,azcentral,6Apr.2020 Trump,anotherNewYorkbillionaireadeptinhandlingthehometownpress,tookparticulargleeinwatchingBloomberg'sperformanceWednesday,twopeoplewhospoketohimsaid. — AnchorageDailyNews,21Feb.2020 UnlikeGretaGerwig,whoreimaginedLittleWomenandgaveitacontemporarysubtext,deWildeandCattondeliveralargelyfaithfulandunchallengingadaptation,beautifullystagedandsharplyactedbyacastadeptatbalancingwitandromance. — CarynJames,TheHollywoodReporter,3Feb.2020 Fromthosewhoknowhimwell,Calhoungetshighmarksasbothasmoothoperator,adeptatmakingthenumberswork,andasakindofMr.Fix-It. — ErikSherman,Fortune,13Jan.2020 TheBillsaddressedsomeofAllen’sneedsbyaddingJohnBrown,adangerousdeepthreat,andColeBeasley,who’sadeptatgettingopenonshortandintermediateroutes. — BennieContrino,SportsIllustrated,14June2019 Asever,MrPutinprovedadeptattakingadvantageofAmericanmistakes. — TheEconomist,24Oct.2019 Brainactivityofthecreativeadeptsandcontrolswassimilarwhenimaginingthenext24hoursbuttotheresearchers’surprise,thecreativegroupaloneengagedthedorsomedialdefaultnetworkwhenimaginingeventsfurtherintothefuture. — KnvulSheikh,ScientificAmerican,22May2019 Theseexamplesentencesareselectedautomaticallyfromvariousonlinenewssourcestoreflectcurrentusageoftheword'adept.'ViewsexpressedintheexamplesdonotrepresenttheopinionofMerriam-Websteroritseditors.Sendusfeedback. SeeMore FirstKnownUseofadept Adjective 1698,inthemeaningdefinedaboveNoun 1674,inthemeaningdefinedabove HistoryandEtymologyforadept Adjective derivativeofadeptentry2 Noun borrowedfromNewLatinadeptus"onewhohasattainedahighdegreeofproficiency(asinalchemyorhermeticphilosophy),"goingbacktoLatin,"havingattained,"pastparticipleofadipīscī"toarriveat,attain,"fromad-ad-+apīscī"toseizeholdof,obtain,"perhapsaninchoativederivativefromthebaseofapere"tojoin"—moreataptentry1 LearnMoreAboutadept Shareadept PosttheDefinitionofadepttoFacebook SharetheDefinitionofadeptonTwitter TimeTravelerforadept Thefirstknownuseofadeptwas in1674 Seemorewordsfromthesameyear DictionaryEntriesNearadept adephagous adept adequacy SeeMoreNearbyEntries  Statisticsforadept LastUpdated 2Mar2022 Look-upPopularity CitethisEntry “Adept.”Merriam-Webster.comDictionary,Merriam-Webster,https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adept.Accessed5Mar.2022. Style:MLA MLA Chicago APA Merriam-Webster MoreDefinitionsforadept adept adjective ad·​ept |\ə-ˈdept \ KidsDefinitionofadept :verygoodatsomething adeptatswimming OtherWordsfromadept adeptly adverb adeptness noun MorefromMerriam-Websteronadept Nglish:TranslationofadeptforSpanishSpeakers BritannicaEnglish:TranslationofadeptforArabicSpeakers WORDOFTHEDAY fester SeeDefinitionsandExamples» GetWordoftheDaydailyemail! TestYourVocabulary DifficultSpellingWordsQuiz Whichisthecorrectspelling? accomodate acommadate acommodate accommodate Testyourknowledge-andmaybelearnsomethingalongtheway. TAKETHEQUIZ Adailychallengeforcrosswordfanatics. TAKETHEQUIZ SubscribetoAmerica'slargestdictionaryandgetthousandsmoredefinitionsandadvancedsearch—adfree! Merriam-Websterunabridged WordsatPlay 'Za'and9OtherWordstoHelpYouWinatSCRABBLE Thesecrettop10wordsexpertsusetowinatSCR... ACastof12AstrologicalWords It'swritteninthestars Whatdoes'yeet'mean? Tossingsomeknowledgeyourway TopBanana,Kingpin,andOtherNicknamesforImportantPeople Bigwigs,bigenchiladas,andbigshots AsktheEditors 'Everyday'vs.'EveryDay' Asimpletricktokeepthemseparate WhatIs'SemanticBleaching'? How'literally'canmean"figuratively" Literally Howtouseawordthat(literally)drivessomepe... IsSingular'They'aBetterChoice? Theawkwardcaseof'hisorher' WordGames ChallengingVocabularyQuizReturns! Notricks,justhardwordsyoumightencounterin... Takethequiz Eponyms:WordsNamedAfterPeople WastherereallyaMr.Shrapnel? Takethequiz TrueorFalse? Testyourknowledge-andmaybelearnsomethinga... Takethequiz