Proficient Meaning
/pɹəˈfɪʃ.ənt/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjGood at something; skilled; fluent; practiced, especially in relation to a task or skill.
nounAn expert.
Sentence Examples
He is proficient in English.
Proficient in English, he is looked on as a good teacher.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She is ____ in three languages, which helps her communicate globally.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She became highly ____ in data analysis after completing an intensive six-month training program.
Word Origin & History
From Latin proficiens, present participle of proficere (“to go forward, advance, make progress, succeed, be profitable or useful”), from pro (“forth, forward”) + facere (“to make, do”); see fact.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"By constant playing and experimenting with these he learned to tie rude knots, and make sliding nooses; and with these he and the younger apes amused themselves. 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 chapter 5, in Tarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, June 1914, →OCLC:
"The colonel now addressed me, […] adding, "I hope we shall send you to your regiment up the country quite a proficient, and calculated to reflect credit on your instructors in the Zubberdust Bullumteers.""
— 1880, Francis John Bellew, Memoirs of a Griffin; Or, A Cadet's First Year in India, page 202:
"Why not subpoena as well the clerical proficients?"
— 1924, Herman Melville, chapter 10, in Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co.:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She is ____ in three languages, which helps her communicate globally.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She became highly ____ in data analysis after completing an intensive six-month training program.