expert
Americannoun
-
experts
plural
-
a person who has special skill or knowledge in some particular field; specialist; authority.
a language expert.
- Synonyms:
- master, connoisseur
-
Military.
-
the highest rating in rifle marksmanship, above that of marksman and sharpshooter.
-
a person who has achieved such a rating.
-
adjective
-
possessing special skill or knowledge; trained by practice; skillful or skilled (often followed by in orat ).
an expert driver;
to be expert at driving a car.
- Synonyms:
- dexterous, proficient, experienced
- Antonyms:
- unskillful
-
pertaining to, coming from, or characteristic of an expert.
expert work;
expert advice.
verb (used with object)
noun
adjective
-
skilful or knowledgeable
-
of, involving, or done by an expert
an expert job
Synonym Usage
See skillful.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of expert
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Latin expertus “tried,” past participle of experīrī “to try”; cf. experience
Explanation
An expert is someone who knows a ton about the subject at hand. The adjective form of expert describes someone or something that has that special knowledge. If you get expert instruction, that means an expert is your teacher. The word expert is related to experience, and to be an expert at something you need experience. While your academic honors might suggest that you're an expert in certain areas, like rocket science, other fields — like wake boarding and tattoo art, for example — require more hands-on experience before you're an expert. The word expert is also an adjective: once you become really good at it, people will say you're an expert snake handler.
Vocabulary lists containing expert
Academic Vocabulary Toolkit 1, Words 41-50
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Words to Describe Yourself on a Resume
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 7
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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 researchers then used this expert planner to train a "policy" built on a deep-learning model through a process called imitation learning.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
The expert trade employees would leave if the promise of equity riches went unfulfilled, and stores full of unsold goods could have dragged the company into bankruptcy in its early days.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
“He is an expert builder and strategist, technical and product-minded, with sharp instincts for what fans actually want.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
"For teams who have had a bad start to the season, United being one of them, it could be a horrible few weeks," said BBC Sport football expert Chris Sutton.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
I was almost a thirteen-year-old, but he thought I was a shark expert.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
However, experts caution that the boost may sometimes come at the expense of the body's ability to recover fully during sleep.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
As with any new educational model that hasn’t been time-tested, experts can be skeptical.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
Election experts said some of the worst threats have already been blocked, but acknowledged remaining worries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Since the beginning, experts have questioned the legality of the strikes, which initially drew strong criticism from Latin American leaders whose citizens have been targeted.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
A lot of these library experts sounded like dictionaries.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
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.
