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:
Even when individual dancers showed that there was some way to go for their total mastery, none were defeated by Ashton’s demanding dance-making as they pressed eagerly into its intricacies of step and posture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
The range of the characters he played showcased the depth of his acting talent and mastery over his craft.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
The combination of an all-around dominant defensive effort, with the Trojans’ usual offensive mastery, offered a glimpse of what USC hopes it can be this season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
He also wants his team to be intense pressers but have "real mastery in possession".
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
The steady, persistent mastery of math required more courage and endurance than that one night had demanded—more than he could muster on his own.
From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins
"If a man strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully."
From Humanity in the City by E. H. (Edwin Hubbell) Chapin
Every man that proveth masteries abstaineth from all things.
From The first New Testament printed in English by
"Had I known what masteries you would use in my church," he said, "I had kept you from coming there."
From English Literature for Boys and Girls by H. E. (Henrietta Elizabeth) Marshall
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
And if a man strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully.—II.
From Humanity in the City by E. H. (Edwin Hubbell) Chapin
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
