expert

[ noun verb ek-spurt; adjective ek-spurt, ik-spurt ]

noun

1. a person who has special skill or knowledge in some particular field; specialist; authority:

   a language expert.

   Synonyms: master, connoisseur

2. Military.
   1. the highest rating in rifle marksmanship, above that of marksman and sharpshooter.
   2. a person who has achieved such a rating.

adjective

1. possessing special skill or knowledge; trained by practice; skillful or skilled (often followed by in or at ):

   an expert driver;

   to be expert at driving a car.

   Synonyms: dexterous, proficient, experienced

   Antonyms: unskillful

2. pertaining to, coming from, or characteristic of an expert:

   expert work;

   expert advice.

verb (used with object)

1. to act as an expert for.

expert

/ ˈɛkspɜːt /

noun

1. a person who has extensive skill or knowledge in a particular field

adjective

1. skilful or knowledgeable
2. of, involving, or done by an expert

   an expert job

Derived Forms

• ˈexpertness, noun
• ˈexpertly, adverb

Other Words From

• ex·pertly adverb
• ex·pertness noun
• non·expert noun adjective
• pro·expert adjective
• unex·pert adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of expert¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Latin expertus “tried,” past participle of experīrī “to try”; experience

Word History and Origins

Origin of expert¹

C14: from Latin expertus known by experience, from experīrī to test; see experience

Synonym Study

See skillful.

Example Sentences

She also told relatives her son would injure himself while sleep-walking, but a medical expert said pre-school children did "not as a rule sleep-walk", Mr Lumley said.

From BBC

“They’re invested in their community. They’re creating solutions for themselves. If only they had a corresponding partner. And so for me, it’s like, that’s the strength of leveraging the collective. I’m not the expert on everything.”

From Los Angeles Times

They decided to tap an expert — just to be sure, mind you.

From Los Angeles Times

"Most of this year's festive adverts have fun at their heart - gnomes taking over Asda, a mystery whodunit at Waitrose, the welcome return of Kevin the Carrot at Aldi," said retail expert Catherine Shuttleworth.

From BBC

Nuzzo also pointed to a recent study published in Nature, led by Yoshihiro Kawaoka, an H5N1 expert at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison, that showed the virus that infected the first reported dairy worker in Texas had acquired mutations that made it more severe in animals as well as allowing it to move more efficiently between them — via airborne respiration.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• artist
• authority
• professional