talent
Americannoun
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talents
plural
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a special natural ability or aptitude.
a talent for drawing.
- Synonyms:
- genius, gift, capability
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a capacity for achievement or success; ability.
young men of talent.
-
a talented person.
The cast includes many of the theater's major talents.
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a group of persons with special ability.
an exhibition of watercolors by the local talent.
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Movies and Television. professional actors collectively, especially star performers.
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a power of mind or body considered as given to a person for use and improvement: so called from the parable in Matthew 25:14–30.
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any of various ancient units of weight, as a unit of Palestine and Syria equal to 3000 shekels, or a unit of Greece equal to 6000 drachmas.
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any of various ancient Hebrew or Attic monetary units equal in value to that of a talent weight of gold, silver, or other metal.
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Obsolete. inclination or disposition.
noun
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innate ability, aptitude, or faculty, esp when unspecified; above average ability
a talent for cooking
a child with talent
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a person or persons possessing such ability
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any of various ancient units of weight and money
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informal members of the opposite sex collectively, esp those living in a particular place
the local talent
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an obsolete word for inclination
Usage
What does talent mean? Talent is an exceptional natural ability, especially in a particular activity, such as music. Talent is often thought of as the kind of ability that comes without training—something that you’re born with. It is often contrasted with skill, which is an ability acquired and developed through practice. It can also be used to refer to people who are talented (which is the adjective form of talent). Example: She was a prodigy whose musical talent was obvious from a young age—she started playing the piano at the age of 2.
Synonym Usage
See ability.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of talent
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English talente, from Latin talenta, plural of talentum, from Greek tálanton “balance, weight, monetary unit”
Explanation
If you are especially good at something, you have a talent. You can have a talent for singing or a talent for getting others to talk about themselves. People who work in creative professions are often called "the talent." In Biblical times, a talent was a unit of money, and a New Testament parable tells of a master punishing a servant for hiding, rather than investing, a bag of talents in the master's absence. The interpretation of this parable to mean that you should not hide your "God-given talents" has led to the current meaning of the word as the special qualities a person possesses.
Vocabulary lists containing talent
"Creativity at Work" and "The Hidden Secrets of the Creative Mind"
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Academy Awards, List 5
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 9
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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:
Both are recent examples of the current climate around talent.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
We want to believe in the Hollywood fairy tale that talent will be rewarded.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Feng pointed out that as the AI boom accelerated, his firm was able to actively hire new AI talent during performance dips for the industry, leading to “prolific model development” currently contributing to outperformance.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Four friends were in the Letterman’s Club, which put on an annual talent show.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Beowulf loved to draw and had a real talent for it, too.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
Gauff also praised Sun and her talents, saying “it was an honor to share the court in front of her home crowd.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
With the rest of this season and all of next year remaining there’s a good chance more schools pick up on his talents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
But the way City analysed it underlines their incredibly forensic approach even when, outwardly, it might be considered they did not need to be so comprehensive given Anderson's obvious talents.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
His most urgent task was to mold passer Justin Herbert into a winner after prior regimes seemed to squander his talents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
Mrs. Olinski gave one of her good answers: her "complementary skills" response, dressing it up to say that the team's talents blended like a chorus, making one sound out of many voices.
From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg
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.
