Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who is skilled; one who is expert; a master of his business; a dab.
  • noun A dabbler; a bungler.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun colloq. One who is skilled; a master of his business; a proficient; an adept.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An expert, one who is master of their profession.
  • noun A handy person.
  • noun A dabbler or bungler.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Derived from dab +‎ -ster.

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Examples

Comments

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  • From the examples:

    “Can a more triumphant imbecile, a more abject dabster, a more stercoraceous bourgeois be found!”

    --The George Sand-Gustave Flaubert Letters

    July 19, 2012

  • A diplomat viewing disaster

    Might say that the artist's a dabster.

    Though bungling's averred

    The Janus-faced word

    Is heard as the praise of a master.

    August 14, 2017

  • See another version of the back-handed compliment in comments at facetely.

    August 23, 2017