as in expert
a person with a high level of knowledge or skill in a field
a British mystery writer who's an undisputed dab hand at building suspense
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Recent Examples of dab hand
All of which curious George, a dab hand at psychological manipulation, coaxes along with the gentlest of nudges.
—
Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2025
In addition to the outfits of the characters in her famous self-portraits, American artist Cindy Sherman is also a dab hand at finds for herself.
—Lily Templeton, WWD, 3 Sep. 2019
Van Norden, a dab hand with Shakespeare, is a natural for Shaw.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2024
Benedict, meanwhile, is an expert colorist, a dab hand with print who knows all about decorative drama.
—Grace McCloud, Vogue, 21 Nov. 2023
Zach is a dab hand at herbal knockout potions and the occasional amateur amputation, and there’s a scene featuring the latter in which Wheatley indulges his twin tastes for deadpan comedy and head-on gross-outs to the extreme.
—BostonGlobe.com, 14 Apr. 2021
Sarah, a dab hand at deflecting sexism and maintaining her professional composure, takes the microphone and expresses her excitement at being on board.
—Justin Chang Film Critic, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2020
That, perhaps, is a little less in the bag, but the Kremlin’s operatives are dab hands at suppressing protests and neutering the press.
—The Economist, 12 Mar. 2020
This is a very different approach to sister-in-law Kate Middleton, and Harry’s older brother, Prince William, who have so far welcomed three royal babies into the world, and are kind of a dab hand at the whole thing.
—Lucy Wood, Marie Claire, 11 Apr. 2019
Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2025
In addition to the outfits of the characters in her famous self-portraits, American artist Cindy Sherman is also a dab hand at finds for herself.
—Lily Templeton, WWD, 3 Sep. 2019
Van Norden, a dab hand with Shakespeare, is a natural for Shaw.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2024
Benedict, meanwhile, is an expert colorist, a dab hand with print who knows all about decorative drama.
—Grace McCloud, Vogue, 21 Nov. 2023
Zach is a dab hand at herbal knockout potions and the occasional amateur amputation, and there’s a scene featuring the latter in which Wheatley indulges his twin tastes for deadpan comedy and head-on gross-outs to the extreme.
—BostonGlobe.com, 14 Apr. 2021
Sarah, a dab hand at deflecting sexism and maintaining her professional composure, takes the microphone and expresses her excitement at being on board.
—Justin Chang Film Critic, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2020
That, perhaps, is a little less in the bag, but the Kremlin’s operatives are dab hands at suppressing protests and neutering the press.
—The Economist, 12 Mar. 2020
This is a very different approach to sister-in-law Kate Middleton, and Harry’s older brother, Prince William, who have so far welcomed three royal babies into the world, and are kind of a dab hand at the whole thing.
—Lucy Wood, Marie Claire, 11 Apr. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dab hand
Noun
-
Unlike MoE, where ‘experts’ emerge without explicit specialization, our method dynamically refines representations with true task-specific expertise.—
Rob Toews,
Forbes,
23 Mar. 2025
-
The Athletic’s experts Luke Smith (from Shanghai) and Madeline Coleman break down the season’s second race.—
Luke Smith,
The Athletic,
23 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
This was just the beginning of how young tech masters worked on ways to share music across the internet.—
Brittney Melton,
NPR,
20 Mar. 2025
-
Setting up trekking pole tents takes a little practice to master, but Lanshan’s convenient hook system makes the process easy.—
Alice Bennett,
Travel + Leisure,
20 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Legal scholars have said there is little legal precedent for Trump's war on Big Law, which has created a chilling effect across the legal community, and most will certainly have a chilling effect on his opponents who will need legal representation against him.—
Alexander Mallin,
ABC News,
29 Mar. 2025
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On top of that, the Trump administration has detained some international scholars who have expressed support for Palestinian causes or criticized Israel over the war in Gaza.—
Tinbete Ermyas,
NPR,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Perhaps Sheridan’s greatest magic trick occurs on Landman, where the adept acting of Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Hamm make the case that Thornton’s oil-field fixer and Hamm’s billionaire are the true American martyrs.—
Stephen Rodrick,
Rolling Stone,
9 Mar. 2025
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Around him, dense as a swarm of tiny insects, float tiny images of fellow adepts engaged in all manner of outré shenanigans.—
Holland Cotter,
New York Times,
26 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
Can your brain be trained to become a chart-predicting wizard?—
Dividend Channel,
Forbes.com,
28 Mar. 2025
-
See It, Feel It, Buy It Six years after The Who released Tommy, the British rockers followed it with a 1975 film starring Roger Daltrey as the titular pinball wizard.—
Joe Lynch,
Billboard,
26 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Even with Pitino’s history as the game’s all-time turnaround artist, what occurred in Queens this season didn’t seem plausible.—
Brendan Quinn,
The Athletic,
23 Mar. 2025
-
This recalls a scene in Alison Klayman’s 2012 documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, in which the artist was beaten by Chinese police).—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
23 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
On the way: indie-folk songwriter Lissie (Sunday, May 18), Philly rockers Low Cut Connie (Tuesday, Sep. 30), and art-rock virtuoso Destroyer (Sunday, Oct. 19).—
David Hudnall,
Kansas City Star,
7 Mar. 2025
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The virtuoso made his solo stage debut at Lollapalooza Hobipalooza on July 31, 2022 an hour-long showcase of his skills as a seasoned entertainer, performing tracks from Jack in the Box, his mixtape Hope World, and various BTS albums.—
Zoe Guy,
Vulture,
1 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Meanwhile, Tanya’s former friend and wellness guru Belinda Lindsey (Natasha Rothwell) appears to be on Greg’s trail.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
22 Mar. 2025
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The same could be said about De Niro in his newest film, The Alto Knights, another gangster opus but this time without the directorial guidance of Martin Scorsese, De Niro’s usual guru in American male psychopathology.—
Armond White,
National Review,
21 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dab hand.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dab%20hand. Accessed 3 Apr. 2025.
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