mastery
Americannoun
-
full command or understanding of a subject
-
outstanding skill; expertise
-
the power of command; control
-
victory or superiority
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of mastery
1175–1225; master + -y 3; replacing Middle English maistrie < Old French
Explanation
Mastery refers to having great skill at something or total dominance over something. If you are fluent in French, you have a mastery of the language. If you win every game of chess, you show a mastery of the game. Mastery is from master, who is someone knowledgeable about a subject, like a master painter. Masters are also people with power — butlers sometimes call their employer master. Mastery refers to a similar power or ability. Beethoven showed mastery in composing. Shakespeare displayed mastery in writing. Apple has had mastery over the field of computers and smartphones. Often, both senses are mixed: if someone has mastery over a field skill-wise, they probably have mastery in terms of dominance too.
Vocabulary lists containing mastery
Trumps
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Selection Vocabulary 4, Unit 5
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Vocabulary from Readings 2, Unit 3
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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:
The Hindenburg catastrophe marked the end of Zeppelins’ mastery of the sky.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
That is, developing mastery through hands-on engagement, social modeling, and “vicarious experience,” according to Baker.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
He also wants his team to be intense pressers but have "real mastery in possession".
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
The Constitution is a “liberty document,” and he was responding to a view of the Constitution that saw it as written by powerful men to embody a theory of power and mastery.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
If at the heart of rhetoric is the ability to position oneself in regard to an audience, their exchange demonstrates Satan’s mastery.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
The late William James, as some readers may remember, placed musical pleasure between sentimental love and sea-sickness as phenomena unaccountable by any value for human survival, in fact masteries, if not paradoxes, of evolution.
From The Beautiful An Introduction to Psychological Aesthetics by Vernon Lee
I cannot see any harm in a knight accosting a lady gently and courteously; nor am I pleased to have you play such masteries before my lady.
From Historic Tales, Vol 14 (of 15) The Romance of Reality by Charles Morris
Why, thou cowardly knave, no stronger than a duck, Barest thou try masteries with me a-pluck.
From A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 1 by William Carew Hazlitt
Fuller, speaking of the swash-bucklers, or bullies, of Queen Elizabeth's time, says, 'West Smithfield was formerly called Ruffian's Hall, where such men usually met, casually or otherwise, to try masteries with sword or buckler.
From The Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter Scott
If a man strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
From True Christianity by Johann Arndt
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.
