Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Quick and skillful; adroit. See Synonyms at dexterous.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Simple; meek; modest.
- Apt or dexterous; neat in action or performance; subtly clever or skilful.
- Neat; spruce; trim.
- Foolish; daft. See daft.
- An abbreviation of defendant.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
WordNet 3.0
- adj. skillful in physical movements; especially of the hands
Etymologies
- From Middle English defte, daft ("gentle"), from Old English gedæfte, from common Proto-Germanic *gadafta-, derived from *dab- ("be suitable"), from Proto-Indo-European *dhabh- (“fitting, fit together”). Near cognates include Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌳𐍉𐍆𐍃 (gadōfs, "suitable"). Further cognates include Russian добро (dobro, "good") and Latin faber ("craftsman; skillful"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, gentle, humble, variant of dafte, foolish; see daft. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“It referred to a deft turn of hand that transferred bad assets, or repainted them to make the books of the owner of said troubled assets look better.”
“Later comes a young greenkeeper carrying a very long, supple, tawny cane: he swishes it all over the circle of dewy grass in deft half-moons, sending up a shower of diamondy drops at every stroke.”
“Take Secretary Baker’s jawboning of the dollar since the Plaza Agreement of 1985, which he describes as the deft execution of bad policy.”
“For one middle-class gentlewoman who understands anything about cookery, or who really cares for it as a scientific art or domestic necessity, there are ten thousand who do not; yet our mothers and grandmothers were not ashamed to be known as deft professors, and homes were happier in proportion to the respect paid to the stewpan and the stockpot.”
“Khuzami was known as a deft manager while head of the white-collar unit in the U.S. Attorney's Office in the S.uthern District of New York.”
“And these illustrations and characterizing* of the forms and essences of things are called deft - nit ioivs.”
“If you are going to be "deft," it's best not to reveal your sleaziness.”
“Their tales reveal the kind of deft maneuvering we'll all be asked to make in the new world of work.”
“And it really has been, I think, an extraordinarily kind of deft management, not only of the operation of the war, but the politics of it back home.”
“And, depending, we could see this move termed as another "deft" move accompanied by dutiful rationalizations.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘deft’.
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probablyankita's list
Words are all I have to take your heart away
apartheid, techno-klutz, logorrheic, gordian knot, anodyne, odor of sanctity, finders keepers, foot-in-mouth dis..., dutch uncle, masquerade, smoke signals, furtive glance and 320 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Public List: Two by Fives
This is an experiment in public lists--something I've been thinking about for some time. The goal is to create a collection of short, powerful, evocative words.
This is an open list. A...icy, howl, hymn, thorn, fire, vile, mist, blunt, scum, dark, shot, gleam and 221 more...
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jaydrox's list
Mah list!
mediocracy, captivatingly, devastatingly, dazedly, heavenly, flawless, copious, conviction, synoptic, amalgamation, prefatory, precursory and 150 more...
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fancy essay words
hiatus, ontology, exegesis, hermeneutics, dialectics, demiurge, ascertain, contention, eschatological, synecdoche, centripetal, centrifugal and 96 more...
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GRE
predilection, explicit, appeal, supplication, appealing, enchanting, ovation, pertinent, apropos, opportunely, applicable, germane and 381 more...
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week 2
deft, clad, innuendo, erroneous, vehement, impetuous, vacuous, corpulent, provincial, din, fluctuate, sporadic and 8 more...
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Ideas
brainchild, inspiration, muse, genius, eureka, discovery, intellectual prop..., intangible asset, goodwill, patented, savant, brainiac and 76 more...
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Character traits
Falstaffian, drumble, despond, grotesque, élan, anile, feal, smart aleck, phat, blowsy, haver, hoary and 18 more...
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ChortleGiggleSnort
Significant Words- Guiding you on your path to Snazzibility
flimsy, feeble, ranting, ramble, narky, snazzy, yoghurt, bulbous, pustule, globulous, geranium, megalomaniac and 521 more...
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Mr. Prolagus is surprised
Words - or different usages of words I already knew - that I am learning thanks to Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.
See also ofravens' with thanks to Anne Shirley.alder, decorum, ferret, dint, wont, gauntlet, turnip, sorrel, deft, embower, scant, peck and 92 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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eesome
Includes any intangible conceivable independently of Hom. Sap.
depthless, overspire, unsteady, thitherward, rile, munchable, covet, pastinaceous, mirtle, slonk, tink, inerrarable and 345 more...
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Aequoria's list
affect, deleterious, nuance, pliant, verbatim, pertinent, latter, municipality, provincial, voyeuristic, circumlocution, wane and 798 more...
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Naresh_Gre
The path meanders through the vineyards
meander, labyrinth, Sinuous, gyrate, caron, awry, credo, banter, juxtaposition, argot, inexorable, foibles and 223 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
Tweets
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