Ability names whatever lets someone do something, which is why it often says too little. When the power comes from practice, skill or proficiency is sharper; when it was there from the start, talent or aptitude is; when you mean only that the potential exists, capacity or capability is. The word also takes to plus a verb: ability to swim, not ability of swimming.
Best synonyms for ability
Capacity to do something
- capability
- capacity
- power
- faculty
Learned skill and competence
- skill
- competence
- proficiency
- expertise
- know-how
- prowess
Natural gift
- talent
- gift
- aptitude
- flair
- knack
Which synonym should you use?
| If you mean… | Best alternatives |
|---|---|
| Something learned through practice | skill, expertise, know-how |
| Enough skill to do the job | competence, proficiency |
| An inborn gift for something | talent, gift, flair |
| Potential not yet developed | aptitude, capacity |
| What a machine or agency can do | capability, capacity |
| A natural power of body or mind | faculty, power |
| A small trick for doing it easily | knack |
| Proven excellence, especially in sport | prowess |
Ability synonyms explained
1. Skill
Ability built by training or practice; that is the main contrast with talent, which is inborn. It is countable (a skill, several skills) and usually takes at or in.
Best used when: You are describing something a person learned and can demonstrate.
Her skill at negotiating came from twenty years of contract work.
2. Talent
Ability that seems to come naturally, which sets it apart from skill. It is followed by for and a noun or an -ing form.
Best used when: You want to say someone was clearly born with a gift for an activity.
Correct: He has a talent for imitating voices.
Incorrect: He has a talent of imitating voices.
Talent takes for, not of, before the activity: use a talent for imitating voices, as in the first sentence.
3. Aptitude
A natural likelihood of learning something quickly, not skill already shown, so it looks forward where skill looks back. It is followed by for and appears often in testing and schooling.
Best used when: You are talking about potential in a student or job candidate.
The test measures mechanical aptitude, not experience.
4. Capacity
The room or potential to do something, with a hint of measurement. It is close to capability, but capacity is about how much can be done and capability about whether it can be done at all. It takes for or to.
Best used when: You mean the potential to absorb, endure or produce something.
Children have a remarkable capacity to adapt to a new school.
5. Capability
Whether a person, machine or organization can do a specific thing. It is often plural when it refers to systems, as in software capabilities, and it sounds more technical than capacity.
Best used when: You are discussing what a device, team or agency is able to carry out.
The agency lacks the capability to inspect every shipping container.
6. Competence
Enough ability to do a job properly and no more, so it can sound lukewarm. It is weaker than expertise and less formal than proficiency, which implies a measured level.
Best used when: You are saying someone can be trusted to do the work correctly.
Nobody doubted her competence as a surgeon.
7. Proficiency
A level of ability that can be tested or ranked, especially in a language or a tool. It is more formal than skill and takes in.
Best used when: A job posting or exam asks for a defined level.
Applicants must show proficiency in Spanish.
8. Expertise
Deep, specialized knowledge combined with skill, a step above competence. It is usually uncountable and points to a field rather than a task.
Best used when: You are naming why someone is hired or consulted.
We hired her for her expertise in water law.
9. Knack
Narrower and more casual than talent: a small, specific trick of doing one thing well, often hard to explain. It takes for.
Best used when: You are praising an easy, intuitive touch with one thing.
He has a knack for fixing things other people give up on.
10. Flair
Natural ability shown with style, mostly in creative or performing fields. It is more about manner than talent is, and it takes for.
Best used when: The ability shows in how stylishly someone does it.
She has a flair for turning leftovers into dinner-party dishes.
11. Faculty
A natural power of body or mind, such as hearing, memory or reason. Unlike skill, it is not learned, and it often appears in the plural. In US usage it also means a school's teaching staff, which is a separate meaning.
Best used when: You are discussing basic mental or physical functions.
He kept all his faculties well into his nineties.
12. Power
Usually plural and followed by of plus a noun, as in powers of concentration. It names a mental capacity, not authority or permission, which is a different meaning of power.
Best used when: You are describing a mental strength like memory or observation.
Her powers of observation made her a good detective.
13. Prowess
Skill shown through achievement, especially in sport, combat or a demanding craft. It is more elevated than skill and implies a record of success.
Best used when: You are praising proven excellence in a physical or competitive field.
The film celebrates her prowess on the ski slopes.
FAQ
Is ability countable?
Both ways. Without an article it is the general quality (a student of real ability); with the and to it names one power (the ability to read music); the plural abilities covers someone's whole range of strengths.
Which preposition goes with each synonym?
Skill takes at or in, and proficiency takes in. Talent, aptitude, knack and flair take for. Ability, capability and capacity all accept to plus a verb, and capacity also takes for.