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When you are adept at something, you are very good, skillful, or talented at it.
Someone who is adroit is skillful and clever, especially in thought, behavior, or action.
A bravura performance, such as of a highly technical work for the violin, is done with consummate skill.
A connoisseur is someone who is an appreciative, informed, and knowledgeable judge of the fine arts; they can also just have excellent or perceptive taste in the fine arts without being an expert.
If someone shows consummate skill at doing something, that person’s skill is very great or almost perfect in every way.
A cynosure is an object that serves as the center of attention.
A deft movement or action is made quickly and with skill.
A dilettante is someone who frequently pursues an interest in a subject; nevertheless, they never spend the time and effort to study it thoroughly enough to master it.
If you describe a person, group, or civilization as effete, you mean it is weak, exhausted, powerless, unproductive, and/or corrupt.
If you say that a person or thing is the epitome of something, you mean that they or it is the best possible example of that thing.
Someone who is erudite is steeped in knowledge because they have read and studied extensively.
An exemplary person is one that sets an ideal or praiseworthy example for others to follow.
Someone who has had an illustrious professional career is celebrated and outstanding in their given field of expertise.
Someone who is ineffectual at a task is useless or ineffective when attempting to do it.
Someone who is inept is unable or unsuitable to do a job; hence, they are unfit for it.
A luminary is someone who is much admired in a particular profession because they are an accomplished expert in their field.
A neophyte is a person who is just beginning to learn a subject or skill—or how to do an activity of some kind.
Something nonpareil has no equal because it is much better than all others of its kind or type.
If you are a novice at an activity, you have just begun or started out doing it.
Someone is obtuse when they are slow to understand things; someone can choose to be obtuse when they deliberately do not try to figure things out.
A pantheon is also all the collective gods of a given people.
A paradigm shift is an important change in which one way of thinking about something is replaced by a completely new way of thinking about it.
A paragon is an example of a thing or person at its or their very best.
A Philistine is someone who does not care about and can even speak against the arts; they are considered unintellectual and ignorant—and are proud of it.
Something that is prodigious is very large, impressive, or great.
If you have prowess, you possess considerable skill or ability in something.
Something is quintessential when it is a perfect example of its type.
A sagacious person is wise, intelligent, and has the ability to make good practical decisions.
A savant is a person who knows a lot about a subject, either via a lifetime of learning or by considerable natural ability.
A tyro has just begun learning something.
Venerable people command respect because they are old and wise.
Noun
virtuoso
vur-choo-OH-soh
Context
The virtuoso enjoyed practicing the violin for seven hours a day, which helped increase his incredible talent. His expert and flawless performances, clearly of the level of a virtuoso, were simply awe-inspiring. To be in the presence of such a virtuoso, whose playing reminded me of such musical geniuses as Bach and Liszt, was truly uplifting.
Quiz:Try again!
What is an example of someone who is a virtuoso?
A life-long fan of a high school basketball team who never misses a single game.
An efficient office manager who worked at the same company for forty years.
A renowned professor of engineering who helped create human-like robots.
Virtue So Good Tomas is a virtuoso in two ways: he is not only so good at playing the piano, but he also possesses excellent character virtue.
Examples
Men are the only animals that devote themselves, day in and day out, to making one another unhappy. It is an art like any other. Its virtuosi are called altruists.
— H. L. Mencken
The window into her vulnerabilities that Hillary gave her opponents in the Philadelphia debate is proving more enduring than the virtuoso performance she turned in last week in Las Vegas.
—
Newsweek
Mr. Peterson was one of the greatest virtuosos in jazz, with a piano technique that was always meticulous and ornate and sometimes overwhelming.
—
The New York Times
Fully interactive videoconferencing, however, in the hands of internationally renowned violin virtuoso Pinchas Zukerman, provides an example of how technology can widen and deepen not only arts education, but any kind of instruction.
—
BNET
A virtuoso is one who has the “nature of an excellent character,” in this case, possessing “excellence” in a technical skill.
Word Theater
Sherlock Holmes Watson has made Sherlock out to be a virtuoso in the public eye.
The panel shows a small video clip of either the word in actual use or a scene that represents the meaning of a word. This not only breaks up the monotony of studying words but also provides another avenue to strengthen word meaning. Enjoy!
Word Constellation
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Related Words
adept ·
adroit ·
bravura ·
connoisseur ·
consummate ·
cynosure ·
deft ·
epitome ·
erudite ·
exemplary+ ·
illustrious+ ·
luminary ·
nonpareil ·
pantheon ·
paradigm ·
paragon ·
prodigious ·
prowess+ ·
quintessential ·
sagacious ·
savant ·
venerable ·
dilettante ·
effete ·
ineffectual+ ·
inept+ ·
neophyte ·
novice+ ·
obtuse ·
philistine+ ·
tyro ·
Similar sense
Opposite sense
Word Variants
virtuous
adj
→
possessing moral excellence
The section lists important variants and alternate definitions of the headword. Knowing variants will often help you both remember and understand the word. Not all variants are listed - only the ones we think that are important for you to know.
