Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Acting or capable of acting as a master or leader, especially in being domineering or imperious.
- adjective Having or showing mastery or skill; expert.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Having the character or qualities of a master; capable of mastery; controlling; imperious; domineering.
- Expressing or indicating mastery; exhibiting force or power: as, a masterful manner or command.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Inclined to play the master; domineering; imperious; arbitrary.
- adjective Having the skill or power of a master; indicating or expressing power or mastery.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of or pertaining to the manner of a
master of an art, technique, profession, or craft;masterly . - adjective In the manner of a master; very
skillful . - adjective Having or showing the qualities of a master vis-a-vis a dependent or subordinate;
authoritative ;domineering .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective having or revealing supreme mastery or skill
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The other was a shrewd-looking, keen-faced, sparely-built man, with somewhat aquiline nose and straight narrow forehead, not at all bad-looking or evil-looking and with an air of strong determination; in short, what one calls a masterful man.
The Workingman's Paradise An Australian Labour Novel John Maurice Miller
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He began making recordings under his own name in the mid-'80s - around the time he was diagnosed with HIV - and for the better part of the next two decades, became known as a masterful interpreter and accompanist in his own right.
NPR Topics: News 2009
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a stern and stubborn nature that those who liked him called masterful, and that those who disliked him -- a more numerous body -- termed tyrannical.
Novel Notes 1893
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All six of the Vol’s scoring drives covered more than 80 yards, with freshman QBs Brent Schaeffer and Erik Ainge directed the drives in masterful fashion.
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Though she did not graduate with a specific distinction, she was known as a masterful storyteller.
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Every feature was strong and rugged, which gave his countenance an expression masterful to the point of being almost surly when it was in repose; but it was a face which caused most men -- and women over thirty -- to turn for a second glance.
'Smiles' A Rose of the Cumberlands Eliot H. Robinson
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'Well, Wych?' he said, looking at her with the grey eyes full of love, and full of delight in her, and full of admiration of her; not the less, soft as they were, full also of that expression which is called masterful when people do not like it.
The Gold of Chickaree Susan Warner 1852
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Taylor Branch's three-volume biography of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is variously described as masterful, epic, a narrative tour-de-force -- the definitive story of the civil rights movement in America's past century.
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Permalink: Windows 7 Beta Drivers for Microsoft Hardware See all of FM Tech New York hails pilot who landed jetliner on river - NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York feted its latest hero, the pilot who landed a distressed US Airways jetliner on the Hudson River, saving all 155 on board in what experts called a masterful job under life-or-death pressure.
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Tonnie Bernhardson as Zuleika's old mother recalls her masterful performance as the mother in UCC's production of "Gypsy" a couple of years ago, although here in a smaller role.
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