adept
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
-
very proficient in something requiring skill or manual dexterity
-
skilful; expert
noun
Other Word Forms
- adeptly adverb
- adeptness noun
- nonadept adjective
- nonadeptly adverb
- unadept adjective
- unadeptly adverb
Etymology
Origin of adept
First recorded in 1655–65; from Medieval Latin adeptus “one who has attained (the secret of transmuting metals),” noun use of Latin past participle of adipiscī “to attain to” ( ad- “toward” + -ep- combining form of ap- in aptus + -tus past participle suffix); ad-, apt
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.
It could be a different story in the title race if the Gunners weren't so adept at scoring from free-kicks and corners.
From BBC
Jones is equally adept at the delicate prose, as in this description of a well-worn family Bible: “The paper, thin as butterfly wings, was heavy with wisdom.”
From Los Angeles Times
The Mexican cowboys became adept at everything from calving to branding to overseeing the kind of long-distance cattle drives that later became a staple of the western.
From Los Angeles Times
But equally, he's dealing with a world that's become more adept at riding that wave – and making the most of it.
From BBC
Japanese and Korean automakers were more adept than Detroit at leveraging their bigger, global scale to remain competitive in sedans during the mass migration to SUVs, said Bernard, the consultant.
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.
