Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use proficient in a sentence

13 example sentences · adjective, noun

Proficient means good at something; skilled; fluent; practiced, especially in relation to a task or skill. Example: “He was a proficient writer with an interest in human nature.”

Examples of proficient by meaning

adjectiveGood at something; skilled; fluent; practiced, especially in relation to a task or skill.

  • He was a proficient writer with an interest in human nature.
  • What Tarzan did they tried to do also, but he alone originated and became proficient.1912 October, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as...

nounAn expert.

  • Why not subpoena as well the clerical proficients?1924, Herman Melville, chapter 10, in Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co.

More sentences with proficient

  • The Winter Hill Gang was quite proficient at murdering rival mobsters in order to take over their rackets.From the entry gang
  • Plenty of people begin the training, but few stick it out for the year or two necessary to become proficient.From the entry stick it out
  • To capitalize on the opportunities related to dynamicism, advertisers and agencies will need to become more proficient in data-driven marketing applications.2012, Bobby J. Calder, Kellogg on Advertising and Media. From the entry dynamicism
  • She would let me know in a most untender manner if Brother Fielding told her I wasn't proficient.2006, James E. McNabney, Born in Brotherhood, page 22. From the entry untender
  • At five feet two inches, he's the Mighty Mouse of the company—not only its shortest dancer but its most glibly proficient.1985 June 24, Arlene Croce, “Dancing: Singular Sensations”, in The New Yorker, page 90. From the entry Mighty Mouse
  • Shale companies have become proficient at drilling fewer but much longer horizontal wells, which allows them to trim costs and still extract more crude.2026 March 4, Benoît Morenne, “Why American Frackers Aren’t Rushing to Pump More Oil: U.S. shale giants won’t budge from their plans…. From the entry shale
  • The big advantage of learning Russian is that, once you’re proficient, you can understand other Slav languages such as Czech, Polish or Bulgarian.2021 April 25, John Malathronas, “Which languages are easiest – and most difficult – for native English speakers to learn?”, in CNN…. From the entry polish
  • Whoever can deal with these mortal spirits and command them to do his business is proficient in the second species of nigromancy.1999, Paracelsus, “Astronomia Magna”, in Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, transl., Essential Readings, North Atlantic Books, page 126. From the entry nigromancy
  • Once we are proficient in using both the retrospectoscope and the prospectoscope, we are ready to use the perspectoscope—the scope that all patients deserve.1991, Herbert L. Fred, Say Aah (hah)!: A Medical Educator Mouths Off. From the entry retrospectoscope
  • He also knew, with another proficient glance, that the dice the youngster jiggled were likely a pair of dispatchers—so named because they effectively "dispatched" their intended targets: suckers.2013, Lisa Plumley, The Honor-Bound Gambler, page 9. From the entry dispatcher

Meaning of proficient

  1. adjective Good at something; skilled; fluent; practiced, especially in relation to a task or skill.
  2. noun An expert.

Full definition of proficient

Questions about proficient in a sentence

How do you use proficient in a sentence?
Proficient is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “He was a proficient writer with an interest in human nature.”
What is a short sentence with proficient?
“Why not subpoena as well the clerical proficients?”
What does proficient mean?
Proficient means good at something; skilled; fluent; practiced, especially in relation to a task or skill.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: proficient (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use proficient in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/proficient. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.