expertise
1 Americanverb (used with or without object)
noun
Etymology
Origin of expertise
First recorded in 1865–70; from French: “survey, report (made by experts),” with -ise understood as an abstract noun suffix; expert, -ise 2
Explanation
When you're an expert at something, you show expertise — or an exceptional knowledge of the subject. "He had expertise in accounting, having excelled in math, but he had even more expertise in dancing, his hobby since a small child." Expertise has obvious roots in the word expert. Just about any interest or field has a place for experts. Just as one individual has expertise in world religions, another may have expertise in computer gaming. Working hard or immersing yourself in a specialty leads to expertise, and it comes through both study and hands-on experience.
Vocabulary lists containing expertise
Academic Vocabulary Toolkit 1, Words 41-50
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"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, Part Eight
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English Words Derived from French, List 4
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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.
Yes, we will be dependent on foreign expertise and investment.
From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026
“High capital intensity, specialized expertise necessary for manufacturing, and the highly regulated nature of aerospace and defense markets are key driving forces of strong barriers to AI disruption,” she says.
From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026
The team had to map the full workflow, document domain expertise, structure internal data, build agents and then verify everything.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026
To tackle these questions, researchers combined expertise from multiple fields, including genetics, archaeology, earth science, and oceanography.
From Science Daily • Apr. 9, 2026
Often a sign of expertise is noticing what doesn’t happen, and the other thing that surprised him was that the fire wasn’t noisy.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
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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.