expert
Americannoun
-
experts
plural
-
a person who has special skill or knowledge in some particular field; specialist; authority.
a language expert.
- Synonyms:
- master, connoisseur
-
Military.
-
the highest rating in rifle marksmanship, above that of marksman and sharpshooter.
-
a person who has achieved such a rating.
-
adjective
-
possessing special skill or knowledge; trained by practice; skillful or skilled (often followed by in orat ).
an expert driver;
to be expert at driving a car.
- Synonyms:
- dexterous, proficient, experienced
- Antonyms:
- unskillful
-
pertaining to, coming from, or characteristic of an expert.
expert work;
expert advice.
verb (used with object)
noun
adjective
-
skilful or knowledgeable
-
of, involving, or done by an expert
an expert job
Synonym Usage
See skillful.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of expert
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Latin expertus “tried,” past participle of experīrī “to try”; cf. experience
Explanation
An expert is someone who knows a ton about the subject at hand. The adjective form of expert describes someone or something that has that special knowledge. If you get expert instruction, that means an expert is your teacher. The word expert is related to experience, and to be an expert at something you need experience. While your academic honors might suggest that you're an expert in certain areas, like rocket science, other fields — like wake boarding and tattoo art, for example — require more hands-on experience before you're an expert. The word expert is also an adjective: once you become really good at it, people will say you're an expert snake handler.
Vocabulary lists containing expert
Academic Vocabulary Toolkit 1, Words 41-50
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Words to Describe Yourself on a Resume
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 7
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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.
See Examples For:
One cybersecurity expert expressed concern that such a vast breach could have occurred based on one compromised username and password.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
A super El Nino fuelling record ocean temperatures poses a "terrifying" threat to the world's fragile coral reefs, the chair of the UN's expert nature panel told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
Henry Thompson, a former expert on the U.N.’s Yemen sanctions panel, said there is evidence that the Houthis have been importing components for solid-fuel ballistic missiles from China for at least two years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
German prosecutors allege that in 2022 he was a serving officer in the Ukrainian army, external, and he had led a group of professional divers, a boat captain and an explosives expert.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Though he was an expert at sudden changes of dirt, rock, snow, and ice, being on an active volcano was a new experience for him.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
It was later dropped after medical experts concluded the patient's condition was so severe that they would have died regardless of the issues caused by the cyber-attack.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
A report by weapons experts at Conflict Armament Research shows how the Yemeni militant group is developing medium-range weapons independently of Iran.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Legal experts have cautioned that pursuing companies linked to the smoke is challenging, with investigations reliant on cooperation from foreign authorities.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Independent legal experts said several factors have driven the wave of lawsuits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
Virginians were also the most adept at employing what Adams called “puffers,” what we would call “spinners” or public-relations experts.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
