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masterful |
Also found in: Medical, Legal, Financial, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.02 sec. |
masterful [ˈmɑːstəfʊl] adj
1. having or showing mastery 2. fond of playing the master; imperious 3. masterly masterfully adv masterfulness n Usage: The use of masterful to mean masterly as in a masterful performance, although common, is considered incorrect by many people ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
masterful adjective 1. skilful, skilled, expert, finished, fine, masterly, excellent, crack (informal), supreme, clever, superior, world-class, exquisite, tasty (Brit. informal), adept, consummate, first-rate, deft, superlative, adroit, dexterous a masterful performance of boxing skilful incompetent, clumsy, inept, unskilled, amateurish, untalented, unaccomplished 2. domineering, authoritative, dictatorial, bossy (informal), arrogant, imperious, overbearing, tyrannical, magisterial, despotic, high-handed, peremptory, overweening, self-willed Successful businesses need bold, masterful managers. domineering weak, meek, spineless, irresolute, wussy (slang), wimpish or wimpy (informal) Usage: In current usage there is a lot of overlap between the meanings of masterful and masterly. According to some, the first should only be used where there is a connotation of power and domination, the second where the connotations are of great skill. Nevertheless, as the Bank of English shows, the majority of uses of masterful these days relate to the second meaning, as in musically, it was a masterful display of the folk singer's art. Anyone wishing to observe the distinction would use only masterly in the context just given, and masterful in contexts such as: his need to be masterful with women was extreme; Alec was so masterful that he surprised himself. Translations masterful adj → meisterhaft; ball control → gekonnt; (= dominating) personality → gebieterisch; he’s got a masterful, yet polite attitude → er hat eine bestimmte, aber trotzdem höfliche Art; he said in a masterful tone → sagte er in bestimmtem Ton; we were amazed at his masterful control of the meeting → wir staunten darüber, wie überlegen or souverän er die Sitzung in der Hand hatte masterful [ˈmɑːstəfʊl] adj (imperious) → imperioso/a; (authoritative) → magistrale masterful [ˈmɑːstəfʊl] adj (imperious) → imperioso/a; (authoritative) → magistrale How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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When this mystery, thanks to Rouletabille, was naturally explained, by the help alone of his masterful mind, we were able to realise that the murderer had got away neither by a door, a window, nor the stairs--a fact which the judges would not admit. When Ming Huang bade the masterful eunuch Kao Li-shih unlace the poet's boots, he gave him a relentless enemy whose malice pursued him, until at length he was glad to beg leave to retire from the court, where he was never at ease and to which he never returned. He loved her jealously, with an inextinguishable ardour and an insatiable desire - he loved her with a masterful devotion and an infinite trustfulness. |
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