masterly
Syllables: mas·ter·ly/ˈmɑːstəli/US/ˈmæstɚli/
masterly adjective: executed in the manner of a master; showing competence and skill; masterful.
Adjective
masterly (comparative more masterly, superlative most masterly)
- Executed in the manner of a master; showing competence and skill; masterful.
- Her years of experience enabled her to render a masterly performance.
- He made confeſsion of you, / And gaue you ſuch a maſterly report / For art and exerciſe in your defence, / And for your Rapier moſt eſpeciall, / That he cride out t' would be a ſight indeed / If one could match you; [...]c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604...
- Synonyms:
- maestrolike, masterlike, masterous, able, artful, habile, accomplished, adept, adroit, apt
- Like a master; arbitrary; domineering, imperious.
- The godlie counſels of Salomon and Ieſus the ſonne of Sirach, for ſharpe kepinge in, and bridleinge of youth, are ment rather, for fatherlie correction, then maſterlie beating, rather for maners, than for learninge: for other places, than for ſcholes.a. 1569 (date written), Roger Ascham, “The First Booke for the Youth [Teachyng the Brynging vp of Youth]”, in Margaret Ascham, editor, The Scholemaster: Or Plaine and Perfite Way of Teaching...
- Many times fear is a profitable and an active ſervant, if it do not dominere and grow maſterlie.1653, Arthur Wilson, “[A Letter to My Lord Monteagle [William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle]]”, in The History of Great Britain, being the Life and Reign of King Iames the First, […], London: […]...
- Synonyms:
- despotic, overbearing
Adverb
masterly (comparative more masterly, superlative most masterly)
- In a masterful manner; competently, masterfully.
- At length the sound of a flute broke upon mine ear; it was not played masterly, but the tones were very sweet; and what is more correct, perhaps, they harmonized with my feelings.1818 January, “The Flute-player.—A Hint to the Discontented.”, in La Belle Assemblée; being Bell’s Court and Fashionable Magazine (New and Improved Series), volume XVII, number 106, London: […] John...
masterly meaning in Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada and Thai
masterly in Bengali
- দক্ষতাপূর্ণ, পাণ্ডিত্যপূর্ণ, মনিবের ন্যায় কর্তৃত্বপূর্ণ, ওস্তাদসুলভ
masterly in Malayalam
- masterful, expert, adept
- വിദഗ്ദ്ധമായി ചെയ്യുന്ന, വെെദഗ്ദ്ധ്യമുള്ള, വിദഗ്ദ്ധമായ, നെെപുണ്യമുള്ള, പ്രാവീണ്യമുള്ള, നിഷ്ണ
masterly in Kannada
- ಆಚಾರ್ಯಯೋಗ್ಯ, ಪರಿಣತನಿಗೆ ತಕ್ಕುದಾದ, ಅರ್ಹವಾದ, ಕುಶಲ, ನಿಪುಣ, ಪರಿಣತ
masterly in Thai
- executed in the manner of a master; showing competence and skill
- ถ่อง tɔ̀ng
Examples of masterly in a sentence
- How maſterly he turns himſelf to catch me?c. 1612–1630, John Fletcher, George Chapman, Ben Jonson, Philip Massinger, “The Bloody Brother; or, Rollo. A Tragedy.”, in Fifty Comedies...
- Of all the pamphlets that came forth at that time, or perhaps of thoſe that have ſince appeared, this was the moſt eloquent and maſterly.1771, [Oliver] Goldsmith, “The Commonwealth”, in The History of England, from the Earliest Times to the Death of George II. […], volume...
- "My fingers," said Elizabeth, "do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women's do.1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter VIII, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton...
- I could not but highly plume myself on my masterly management in getting rid of Bartleby.1853 November–December, Herman Melville, “Bartleby”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC, page 37:
Synonyms of masterly
29 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of masterly
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more masterly |
| superlative | most masterly |
| alternative form | masterlie |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more masterly |
| superlative | most masterly |
Origin of masterly
PIE word *méǵh₂s From Middle English maisterli, from maister (“leader, ruler; high official; official in charge of a place; person in control; employer; owner; schoolmaster, teacher; scholar, sage; holder of a master's degree; religious teacher; master craftsman; expert; magician; social superior; husband; lover; Jesus Christ; a god; male stud animal”) + -li (suffix forming adjectives). Maister is derived from Old English mæġester (“master”) and Old French maistre (“master”) (modern French maître), both from Latin magister (“teacher; master”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s (“big, great”). The English word is analysable as master + -ly.
From Middle English maisterli (“artistically; skilfully; in the manner of a conqueror or master; overconfidently”), from maister (see etymology 1) + -li (suffix forming adverbs); analysable as master + -ly (suffix forming adverbs).
Words formed from masterly
Questions about masterly
- What does masterly mean?
- Masterly means executed in the manner of a master; showing competence and skill; masterful.
- What is masterly in Bengali?
- Masterly in Bengali is দক্ষতাপূর্ণ, পাণ্ডিত্যপূর্ণ, মনিবের ন্যায় কর্তৃত্বপূর্ণ. See Masterly meaning in Bengali.
- How do you use masterly in a sentence?
- How maſterly he turns himſelf to catch me?
- What part of speech is masterly?
- Masterly can be an adjective or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce masterly?
- Masterly is pronounced /ˈmɑːstəli/ (UK).
Words near masterly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: masterly (page history and authors); masterly (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); masterly (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); masterly (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-masterly.wav.
Cite this entry: “masterly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/masterly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.