Word.ws English Dictionary

passed master

passed master is the archaic form of past master.

Meaning of past master

Noun

past master (plural past masters)

  1. One who has an extremely high level of ability or knowledge within an area of achievement or expertise.
    • It required a deft hand and deep knowledge of the barbaric mind effectually to handle such diverse weapons; but he was a past-master in the art, knowing when to conciliate and when to threaten with Jove-like wrath.1900 April 7, Jack London, “The Son of the Wolf”, in The Son of the Wolf: Tales of the Far North, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC, page 24
  2. Someone who has previously been a master at a given lodge.

Forms of passed master

pluralpassed masters

Questions about passed master

What is passed master the archaic form of?
Passed master is the archaic form of past master.

Words near passed master in the dictionary

  1. passed down
  2. passed for
  3. passed gas
  4. passed in one's checks
  5. passed judgment
  6. passed master
  7. passed masters
  8. passed motion
  9. passed muster
  10. passed off
  11. passed off as

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: passed master (page history and authors); past master (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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