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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Words to Describe Yourself on a Resume
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 7
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
The neutral arbitrator sided with the health plan’s expert.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
"North Koreans built a real Soviet-style border security system," said Andrei Lankov, an expert on the North at Kookmin University in Seoul.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
Kaiser’s expert argued that the physician assistant did an appropriate exam and that his low suspicion of breast cancer was reasonable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
That sounds familiar to Lindsey Pollak, a multigenerational workforce expert and executive coach, who says she coaches bosses to be as specific as possible.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
Please write back and say I can so I can tell my mom that a world skunk expert says yes.
From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold
It has helped experts discover that fossils in museums across the continent had been wrongly grouped and were actually made up of two different species - Saurichthys and Birgeria.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
Traveling around the holidays is always expensive, but this year experts are advising Americans to book their Thanksgiving and Christmas travel now.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
Authorities have not confirmed the details of the threat, which they said was "contained" Sunday evening, but bomb disposal experts were seen at work at the scene.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
But she’s just one of a burgeoning group of Christian influencers, most of them fairly young, who hold themselves out as experts on marriage.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
Hobbes’s point is not that expertise is whatever the sovereign says it is; it is that non-experts can be competent to select experts.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
