proficient
adjective
Melinda Farrell
Did you know?
If you are proficient or adept at something you are skillful—perhaps even expert. Proficient, adept, skillful, and expert are all synonyms, but subtle differences can be discerned between these terms as well. Proficient usually describes pure ability that comes from training and practice ("a proficient writer"). Adept suggests an innate ability as well as a learned skill ("an adept card player"). Skillful suggests being very able at a particular task ("a skillful surgeon"). Expert suggests having a thorough knowledge of a subject as well as being very skillful at working in it ("expert in the martial arts").
Did you know?
Comparing Efficient, Effective, and Proficient
These three words cover some overlapping territory.
Efficient most often describes what is capable of producing desired results without wasting materials, time, or energy. While the word can be applied to both people and things, it is far more commonly applied to things, such as machines, systems, processes, and organizations. The focus of the word is on how little is wasted or lost while the desired results are produced.
Effective typically describes things—such as policies, treatments, arguments, and techniques—that do what they are intended to do. People can also be described as effective when they accomplish what they set out to accomplish, but the word is far more often applied to things.
Proficient typically describes people, and it often is followed by the preposition at. If you are proficient at something, you are very good at it. You are, in fact, so good at doing it that you are unusually efficient when you do it. One can also be proficient in something, such as a language.
Examples of proficient in a Sentence
Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker, 15 Sept. 2003
Dr. Pascual-Leone recruited 15 proficient Braille readers and wired them up so he could measure their somatosensory cortex—the part of the brain that registers and processes the sense of touch.
—Sharon Begley, Wall Street Journal, 11 Oct. 2002
Become proficient at lag putting and you may make a few.
—Dave Pelz, Golf Magazine, July 1996
He has become very proficient at computer programming.
She is proficient in two foreign languages.
Big Think, 23 Oct. 2025
To advocate for and support strategies, curriculums, and programs that ensure that our graduates are college and career ready and proficient in core subject areas.
—Pioneer Press Elections Team, Twin Cities, 16 Oct. 2025
Conversely, the Chiefs defense was able to slow down the typically proficient Lions offense, holding them to just 98 yards on the ground and Detroit QB Jared Goff to 203 passing yards.
—Ben Morse, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2025
Both are already reasonably proficient in this area.
—PC Magazine, 3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for proficient
Cite this Entry
“Proficient.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proficient. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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proficient
adjective
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