While the word worship has historically held a wider meaning that denoted the honor given to all those deserving of honor (a meaning still retained in Great Britain where magistrates have been given the courtesy title “Your Worship”), today it is commonly considered to mean the reverence given to God alone. So far as I know, adoration, in Christian terminology, has always meant the reverence given to God alone. Thus, used today in Christian contexts, worship and adoration are synonyms. I do not know why the liturgist you heard made a distinction between the two, as at both Mass and eucharistic holy hours we worship (i.e., adore) Jesus Christ made present body, blood, soul, and divinity.
