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When you are adept at something, you are very good, skillful, or talented at it.
The word aesthetic is used to talk about art, beauty, the study of beauty, and the appreciation of beautiful things.
If someone is an aficionado of something, such as soccer, they like it and know a lot about it; therefore, they are a true fan of it.
An avocation is an activity, such as a hobby, that you do because you are interested in it.
You describe someone as a charlatan if they pretend to have special knowledge or skill that they don’t actually possess.
A connoisseur is an appreciative, informed, and knowledgeable judge of the fine arts; they can also just have excellent or perceptive taste in the fine arts without being an expert.
If someone shows consummate skill at doing something, that person’s skill is very great or almost perfect in every way.
A cursory examination or reading of something is very quick, incomplete, and does not pay close attention to detail.
A deft movement or action is made quickly and with skill.
A dilettante is someone who frequently pursues an interest in a subject; nevertheless, they never spend the time and effort to study it thoroughly enough to master it.
Someone who is epicurean derives great pleasure in material and sensual things, especially good food and drink.
A hallmark is a symbol, badge, or emblem of something, such as success.
A neophyte is a person who is just beginning to learn a subject or skill—or how to do an activity of some kind.
Something nonpareil has no equal because it is much better than all others of its kind or type.
Someone is obtuse when they are slow to understand things; someone can choose to be obtuse when they deliberately do not try to figure things out.
A paragon is an example of a thing or person at its or their very best.
A perfunctory action is done with little care or interest; consequently, it is only completed because it is expected of someone to do so.
A poseur pretends to have a certain quality or social position, usually because they want to influence others in some way.
Something that is prodigious is very large, impressive, or great.
A quack is someone who pretends to be qualified to do something—but in actuality is not so at all.
A savant is a person who knows a lot about a subject, either via a lifetime of learning or by considerable natural ability.
A tyro has just begun learning something.
Something that is vacuous is empty or blank, such as a mind or stare.
A virtuoso is someone who is very skillful at something, especially playing a musical instrument.
Noun
bailiwick
BAY-luh-wik
Context
The lecture series and panel discussion on climate change gave Wilma the perfect chance to show off her bailiwick of weather-related expertise. As Wilma consulted with other specialists in the field, they became more and more impressed by her bailiwick, which was brimming with knowledge. It soon became known that she was an authority in the professional area or bailiwick of environmental studies.
Quiz:Try again!
How does one acquire a bailiwick?
By being careful with one’s money and saving it for many years.
By acquiring an expertise or studying a specific subject extensively.
By getting a job which requires a couple of personal assistants.
Proud Mama Praises her Bailey "MyBailey is a wonderfully wicked wick lighter," said Mama McKay to her friend Claudia. "He may not be great at anything else, but his bailiwick of lighting candles is better than nothing, don't you think? I mean, some people's children can't do anything at all!" "Oh, yes," agreed Claudia, "I've always said that your Bailey is a darn good wick lighter!"
Examples
Each has his own well-defined bailiwick, and there is a minimum of contact among them of any nature—particularly of a social nature.
—
Sports Illustrated
Though Blackwell’s bailiwick is engineering, he takes pains to point out earnestly that "shelf space is very valuable—it wouldn’t make sense to have rain gear out on a sunny day."
—
Wired
Asked about the Iranian letters, John R. Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said, "That’s not in my bailiwick."
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The Washington Post
A bailliwik was a “town bailiff”; just as a “bailiff” oversees a “neighborhood or block of houses in a town,” so too is one’s bailiwick a supervisory area or field of expertise.
Word Theater
The Cape Since Patrick's bailiwick is the ports, he should be a part of this conversation.
The panel shows a small video clip of either the word in actual use or a scene that represents the meaning of a word. This not only breaks up the monotony of studying words but also provides another avenue to strengthen word meaning. Enjoy!