adept
Americanadjective
noun
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adepts
plural
adjective
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very proficient in something requiring skill or manual dexterity
-
skilful; expert
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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adeptnessnoun
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nonadeptadjective
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unadeptadjective
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adeptlyadverb
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nonadeptlyadverb
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unadeptlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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); see ad-, apt
Explanation
Are you looking for another word to describe a person who is highly skilled, very proficient or expert at something? Try the adjective adept! In the days of Medieval Latin, an adeptus was a person who had learned the secrets of alchemy. Although an adept person today cannot turn lead into gold, the adjective is still high praise meaning "skilled, expert, highly proficient."
Vocabulary lists containing adept
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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The Phantom Tollbooth
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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:
Does that mean Seehorn is an adept liar?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
The same tools that made filling out forms easier have made politicians and bureaucrats more adept at creating more paperwork.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
Gould was adept of the dark arts of financial distress.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
He said Russia and Ukraine had become "incredibly adept" at using autonomy in the form of drones and counter drones.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
This he did, no doubt, more promptly and thoroughly than I ever had done: he was an adept of the Handdara, after all.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
And now we know that there are two types, or at least two types, and they have this relationship as adepts and drones.
From Salon ● May 15, 2022
As McKenna told me, western seekers were eager to believe that eastern adepts had supernatural abilities.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 24, 2019
Literature extolling the virtues of silence has been accumulating for millennia, in Hindu and Buddhist scriptures, in sayings of Christian hermits and mystics, in teachings by modern yoga adepts and meditators.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 27, 2017
The Lioness in Winter recounts Burack-Weiss’ coming to terms with life past 70, a quest she pursued by immersing herself in the work of several old female writers she regards as adepts: May Sarton, M.F.K.
From Slate ● Jan. 8, 2016
There are a few genuine adepts present who throw themselves rapturously into the music, eyes shut, arms upraised, waiting, no doubt, for the onset of glossolalia.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
