proficient
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of proficient
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin prōficient-, stem of prōficiēns, present participle of prōficere “to advance, make progress,” equivalent to prō- pro- 1 + -ficere, combining form of facere “to make, do”; cf. do, efficient
Explanation
When someone has become good at something, they are proficient. After all those hours playing video games, you must be very proficient at them. Proficient comes from the Latin for making progress, so if someone is proficient, they have made so much progress that they've become good at something. Use proficient to talk about improvement through practice instead of natural ability; even a person with no inherent skill at language can become proficient in Latin. If you're proficient at tennis, you're good, but it doesn't imply the kind of mastery for which the expert is used.
Vocabulary lists containing proficient
Grade 9, List 1
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 4
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ACT Vocabulary List
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In reading, the percentage of students scoring as proficient or better was 46.5% for L.A.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
Lowery makes proficient use of the confined setting where Sam and Mary reunite, building a two-hander chamber drama around Coel and Hathaway’s fervent commitment to the weird and inane.
From Salon • Apr. 24, 2026
The scams have started appearing in U.S. immigrant communities, experts say, though they haven’t spread widely in Western countries, in part because of a shortage of scammers proficient in American or other Western accents.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
One major consequence of the last four years of war is that Ukraine and Russia are now the most experienced and proficient practitioners of drone warfare in the world.
From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026
Ample warning against such a notion is provided by the academic painters and sculptors of the nineteenth century, who were as a group among the most proficient artists in history—as well as the dullest.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
