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past master
noun
- a person who is thoroughly experienced or exceptionally skilled in a profession, art, etc.:
a past master at chess.
- a person who has held the office of master in a guild, lodge, etc.
past master
noun
- a person with talent for, or experience in, a particular activity
a past master of tact
- a person who has held the office of master in a Freemasons' lodge, guild, etc
Word History and Origins
Origin of past master1
Idioms and Phrases
A person who is thoroughly experienced or exceptionally skilled in some activity or craft. For example, We're lucky to get Ella, because she's a past master at fundraising . This expression probably alludes to the original literal meaning, that is, one who formerly held the post of master in a lodge or other organization. Although past mistress was used for an exceptionally skilled woman in the mid-1800s, it is heard less often today, master serving for both sexes. [Mid-1800s]Example Sentences
I dared not trust myself to the seduction of his manner and voice—he was a past-master in the art of making love.
Among the fraternity “The American” was known as a clever crook, a man who was a past-master in the art of bluff.
As for his production of the play, it showed the old skill of a Past-Master of Pageantry.
No––neither was she like Lola of the Golden Cloud, past-master of men because she had belonged to many.
One soldier in particular was past-master in making savoury stews much appreciated by the others.
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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.
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