masterly.
Executed in the manner of a master; showing competence and skill; masterful.
Meaning & usage
Executed in the manner of a master; showing competence and skill; masterful.
Her years of experience enabled her to render a masterly performance.
Like a master; arbitrary; domineering, imperious.
Where this word comes from
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.
In a masterful manner; competently, masterfully.
Where this word comes from
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).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.