past mistress

noun

1. a woman who is thoroughly experienced or exceptionally skilled in a profession, art, etc.

Word History and Origins

Origin of past mistress¹

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

In recent years, she played Felicity Huffman's mother on "Desperate Housewives" and the past mistress of Tony Soprano's late father on "The Sopranos."

Read more on US News

In recent years, she played Felicity Huffman’s mother on Desperate Housewives and the past mistress of Tony Soprano’s late father on The Sopranos.

Read more on The Guardian

In recent years, she played Felicity Huffman's mother on “Desperate Housewives” and the past mistress of Tony Soprano's late father on “The Sopranos.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Wasikowska — the pensive Alice in Tim Burton’s Wonderland, the troubled teen on In Therapy, Jane Eyre to Michael Fassbender’s Rochester — is a past mistress at playing odd girls.

Read more on Time

No doubt, the Countess was a past mistress in the art of entertaining and in the ordering and arrangement of such festivities.

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