as in expert
a person with a high level of knowledge or skill in a field
a movie director who was widely regarded as the past master of suspense
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Recent Examples of past master
There is a certainty to her sentences that sets her alongside past masters (your William Trevors, your Anton Chekhovs) and a singular beauty to her observations.
—
Tomi Obaro, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2024
Coppola, a past master at directing actors, allows his performers – who include Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Aubrey Plaza, and Nathalie Emmanuel – to shamelessly ham it up.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 Sep. 2024
And he is positioned as the chief foreign luminary at the festival’s anniversary tribute to past master Ozu Yasujiro.
—Mark Schilling, Variety, 23 Oct. 2023
The fact that the company is designing a standalone robotaxi speaks to its failures in executing past master plans.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 28 Feb. 2023
Wonder, a past master of love songs, makes a demand that tests the output of every contemporary pop singer and every jaded fan.
—Armond White, National Review, 25 Nov. 2020
Does this past master of starting crazes see the Reddit phenomenon as a long-overdue democratization of the stock market, or a frenzy detached from the fundamentals of investing?
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 22 Mar. 2021
The locked-room mystery—not just a whodunnit but a how-done-it—pays homage to past masters such as John Dickson Carr and Gaston Leroux.
—The Economist, 18 Dec. 2019
When the ensemble made its first national tour, playing Orchestra Hall in September 1992, Marsalis and friends were trying to show that America needed a world-class jazz orchestra that could honor past masters while forging future ones.
—Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, 16 Nov. 2019
Tomi Obaro, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2024
Coppola, a past master at directing actors, allows his performers – who include Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Aubrey Plaza, and Nathalie Emmanuel – to shamelessly ham it up.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 Sep. 2024
And he is positioned as the chief foreign luminary at the festival’s anniversary tribute to past master Ozu Yasujiro.
—Mark Schilling, Variety, 23 Oct. 2023
The fact that the company is designing a standalone robotaxi speaks to its failures in executing past master plans.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 28 Feb. 2023
Wonder, a past master of love songs, makes a demand that tests the output of every contemporary pop singer and every jaded fan.
—Armond White, National Review, 25 Nov. 2020
Does this past master of starting crazes see the Reddit phenomenon as a long-overdue democratization of the stock market, or a frenzy detached from the fundamentals of investing?
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 22 Mar. 2021
The locked-room mystery—not just a whodunnit but a how-done-it—pays homage to past masters such as John Dickson Carr and Gaston Leroux.
—The Economist, 18 Dec. 2019
When the ensemble made its first national tour, playing Orchestra Hall in September 1992, Marsalis and friends were trying to show that America needed a world-class jazz orchestra that could honor past masters while forging future ones.
—Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, 16 Nov. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for past master
Noun
-
Unlike MoE, where ‘experts’ emerge without explicit specialization, our method dynamically refines representations with true task-specific expertise.—
Rob Toews,
Forbes,
23 Mar. 2025
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The Athletic’s experts Luke Smith (from Shanghai) and Madeline Coleman break down the season’s second race.—
Luke Smith,
The Athletic,
23 Mar. 2025
Noun
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This was just the beginning of how young tech masters worked on ways to share music across the internet.—
Brittney Melton,
NPR,
20 Mar. 2025
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Setting up trekking pole tents takes a little practice to master, but Lanshan’s convenient hook system makes the process easy.—
Alice Bennett,
Travel + Leisure,
20 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Legal scholars have said there is little legal precedent for Trump's war on Big Law, which has created a chilling effect across the legal community, and most will certainly have a chilling effect on his opponents who will need legal representation against him.—
Alexander Mallin,
ABC News,
29 Mar. 2025
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On top of that, the Trump administration has detained some international scholars who have expressed support for Palestinian causes or criticized Israel over the war in Gaza.—
Tinbete Ermyas,
NPR,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Can your brain be trained to become a chart-predicting wizard?—
Dividend Channel,
Forbes.com,
28 Mar. 2025
-
See It, Feel It, Buy It Six years after The Who released Tommy, the British rockers followed it with a 1975 film starring Roger Daltrey as the titular pinball wizard.—
Joe Lynch,
Billboard,
26 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Perhaps Sheridan’s greatest magic trick occurs on Landman, where the adept acting of Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Hamm make the case that Thornton’s oil-field fixer and Hamm’s billionaire are the true American martyrs.—
Stephen Rodrick,
Rolling Stone,
9 Mar. 2025
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Around him, dense as a swarm of tiny insects, float tiny images of fellow adepts engaged in all manner of outré shenanigans.—
Holland Cotter,
New York Times,
26 Dec. 2024
Noun
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On the way: indie-folk songwriter Lissie (Sunday, May 18), Philly rockers Low Cut Connie (Tuesday, Sep. 30), and art-rock virtuoso Destroyer (Sunday, Oct. 19).—
David Hudnall,
Kansas City Star,
7 Mar. 2025
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The virtuoso made his solo stage debut at Lollapalooza Hobipalooza on July 31, 2022 an hour-long showcase of his skills as a seasoned entertainer, performing tracks from Jack in the Box, his mixtape Hope World, and various BTS albums.—
Zoe Guy,
Vulture,
1 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Even with Pitino’s history as the game’s all-time turnaround artist, what occurred in Queens this season didn’t seem plausible.—
Brendan Quinn,
The Athletic,
23 Mar. 2025
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This recalls a scene in Alison Klayman’s 2012 documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, in which the artist was beaten by Chinese police).—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
23 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Meanwhile, Tanya’s former friend and wellness guru Belinda Lindsey (Natasha Rothwell) appears to be on Greg’s trail.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
22 Mar. 2025
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The same could be said about De Niro in his newest film, The Alto Knights, another gangster opus but this time without the directorial guidance of Martin Scorsese, De Niro’s usual guru in American male psychopathology.—
Armond White,
National Review,
21 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Past master.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/past%20master. Accessed 3 Apr. 2025.
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