proficiency
Americannoun
-
proficiencies
plural
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of proficiency
First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin prōfici(ēns) “advancing” ( see proficient) + -ency
Explanation
If you have proficiency with something, you are pretty good at it. If you have proficiency with Spanish, you can understand and communicate well in that language. Proficiency, pronounced "pro-FISH-en-cee," comes from the Latin word proficere, meaning "accomplish, make progress, be useful." If you have achieved proficiency in something, you have done well at gaining a skill. However, having proficiency doesn't make you an expert. Still, proficiency is something to be proud of — it means you have worked hard, and if you keep going, you probably will become an expert.
Vocabulary lists containing proficiency
Power Prefix: pro
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"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift
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Twelve Years a Slave
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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:
From 2025 to 2026, reading proficiency rates declined 6 points among third- through eighth-graders, the city said in August.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
From April next year, permanent residency applicants will face even tighter requirements, including basic Japanese language proficiency.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
"They completely changed what hardcore could be. They had the technical proficiency to play harder, to play faster," she added.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Since the law’s voter-approved repeal, students receiving bilingual instruction have demonstrated higher academic achievement across subjects and higher rates of English proficiency compared with students who received instruction in English only, Garcia Bedolla said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
The languages they spoke, in rank of proficiency.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
Most of the proficiencies required can be gained through further education.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 27, 2023
My language proficiencies overcome those barriers and I have tried to help people who have no idea what to do once they land here.
From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2022
I sometimes looked in vain for stacks of books along the walls that weren’t didactically aligned with state-ordained, “testable” proficiencies.
From New York Times ● Jul. 25, 2021
Beyoncé’s proficiencies include the art of publicity, and her messaging is as precise as her melisma.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 18, 2019
The peculiar proficiencies of great epochs are as astonishing as the exploits of individual frenzy.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 83, September, 1864 by Various
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.
