adept
Americanadjective
noun
-
adepts
plural
adjective
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very proficient in something requiring skill or manual dexterity
-
skilful; expert
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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adeptnessnoun
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nonadeptadjective
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unadeptadjective
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adeptlyadverb
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nonadeptlyadverb
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unadeptlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of adept
First recorded in 1655–65; from Medieval Latin adeptus “one who has attained (the secret of transmuting metals),” noun use of Latin past participle of adipiscī “to attain to” ( ad- “toward” + -ep- combining form of ap- in aptus + -tus past participle suffix); see ad-, apt
Explanation
Are you looking for another word to describe a person who is highly skilled, very proficient or expert at something? Try the adjective adept! In the days of Medieval Latin, an adeptus was a person who had learned the secrets of alchemy. Although an adept person today cannot turn lead into gold, the adjective is still high praise meaning "skilled, expert, highly proficient."
Vocabulary lists containing adept
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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The Phantom Tollbooth
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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:
AI can be especially adept at flagging potential rare and hard-to-diagnose diseases, which may otherwise go undetected for years because doctors don’t often see them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Does that mean Seehorn is an adept liar?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Though Neill had more than a lifetime’s experience playing characters who were solely benevolent or entirely wicked, he was remarkably adept at navigating the journey back and forth between these two polarities.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
Artificial intelligence has become so adept at creating realistic images, it is increasingly hard to figure out what is real or not.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
But I had by now become adept at dodging blows and I nimbly ducked my head.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
And now we know that there are two types, or at least two types, and they have this relationship as adepts and drones.
From Salon ● May 15, 2022
But if even adepts feel that way, why do these true crime mavens continue to dedicate hours dutifully trying to crack mysteries with methods they know are imperfect?
From Slate ● Sep. 3, 2020
As McKenna told me, western seekers were eager to believe that eastern adepts had supernatural abilities.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 24, 2019
Literature extolling the virtues of silence has been accumulating for millennia, in Hindu and Buddhist scriptures, in sayings of Christian hermits and mystics, in teachings by modern yoga adepts and meditators.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 27, 2017
There are a few genuine adepts present who throw themselves rapturously into the music, eyes shut, arms upraised, waiting, no doubt, for the onset of glossolalia.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
