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adept Definition

adept (ə dept′; also, and for n. always ad′ept′)

adjective

highly skilled; expert

Etymology: L adeptus, pp. of adipisci, to arrive at < ad-, to + apisci, to pursue, attain: used in ML of alchemists claiming to have arrived at the philosopher's stone

noun

ad′·ept′ a person who is highly skilled in some field of knowledge or work; expert

adept Related Forms
adept′·ly adverb adept′·ness noun
adept Synonyms

adept

modif.

skilled, skillful, proficient, capable; see able 1, 2.

adept Usage Examples

Preposition: in

  • art: This creature, adept in the art of disguise, will make your life a living nightmare.

Preposition: at

  • problem: Candidates should also be adept at problem solving with excellent communication skills.
  • comedy: She was also adept at comedy and appeared in episodes of Steptoe And Son and Up Pompeii.
  • art: It truly appears that women are more adept at the quiet art of one-to-one dialog.

Modifying Another Word

  • technically: For the technically adept this would be automatically disregarded.
  • technologically: If you are technologically adept, the BBC provide a free tool that may be installed on a website to aid access.
  • equally: Jonathan Schofield is a striker from Bury St Edmunds who is equally adept on the left hand side.
  • socially: Bowie, Belinda Carlisle and Melanie C. Because they're all decent human beings and socially adept.
  • remarkably: Introduction Children are remarkably adept at learning new verbal information.
  • surprisingly: He has proved surprisingly adept at bringing his diverse nation together and mobilizing against terrorism.

Used with adjective complement

  • prove: Yeltsin has proved adept at controlling the first two.
  • become: They have also become adept at playing the game.
  • seem: The ecology movement seems particularly adept in its innovative approach to venues.
  • get: The pilots were getting more adept I think, or thought better of making a report.

Modifies a noun

  • player: Guitarist Paul Davies is a highly adept player, letting loose some superb rock guitar whilst Gavin Griffiths provides powerful drumming throughout.
  • dle: The ADEPT DLE takes advantage of such technologies in support of its basic assumption concerning the conceptual organization of science learning materials.
  • soloist: Guitarist Marco Tulio is a solid accompanist and an adept soloist.
  • communicator: Electrolux, the world's largest consumer appliance company, is one of the most adept communicators.
  • swimmer: They usually spend little time underwater as they are not very adept swimmers.
  • handling: Free Gift with Purchase is an engaging afternoon read, both for the subject matter and the adept handling by the author.