Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Sleight of hand.
- n. A show of skill or deceitful cleverness: financial legerdemain.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Sleight of hand; a deceptive performance or trick which depends on dexterity of hand; fallacious adroitness, trickery, or deception generally.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Sleight of hand; a trick of sleight of hand; hence, any artful deception or trick.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an illusory feat; considered magical by naive observers
Etymologies
- Middle English legerdemayn, from Old French leger de main : leger, light (from Vulgar Latin *leviārius, from Latin levis; see legwh- in Indo-European roots) + de, of (from Latin dē; see de-) + main, hand; see mortmain.
Examples
“I need hardly add that these cards are specially treated against any kind of legerdemain, which is superfluous in any case since they will be machine-shuffled.”
The Grand Wheel
“The story of Robert-Houdin’s diplomacy by legerdemain is well-established in magic lore, in large part because it is the only documented instance, at least since antiquity, in which a conjurer changed the course of world affairs.”
“It's the levity that helps to keep us afloat, the magic that gives us lightness of touch -- what the French call legerdemain -- grace under pressure, wonder, and hope.”
“Following the strict orders of their donor-masters, and under the guise of the neo-lingo legerdemain, our elected representatives reversed critical legislation that protected us from unfair manipulation of the free markets forces, such as Taft-Hartley Act and other anti-monopoly laws.”
“We find that the claim is based on dubious assumptions, cherry-picking data, and mathematical legerdemain which is inexplicably being withheld from the public.”
“When art shall be annexed to beauty, when wiles and guiles shall concur; for to speak as it is, love is a kind of legerdemain; mere juggling, a fascination.”
“Stewart's question reveals both a gap in his education and a laudable ability to spot legerdemain which is a pretty good cement for such educational gaps.”
“I don't see how you do it," my Uncle Frank said to me one day, and his tone implied that he considered my authorship a questionable kind of legerdemain, as if I were, somehow, getting money under false pretenses.”
“A plain man, who knew nothing of the curious transmutation which the wit of man can work, would be very apt to wonder by what kind of legerdemain Aaron”
“Kuiper Belt Object - sized "public servant" who, using the same kind of legerdemain federal bookkeepers employ in low-balling the budget deficit, lists his weight as 250 pounds -- was caught on video delivering a drunken beating to a 115-pound female bartender named Karolina Obrycka.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘legerdemain’.
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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 4084 more...
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just neat
insolent, redolent, clammy, chunder, berate, vainqueur, neotony, milquetoast, semprini, twaddle, plethora, enteron and 28 more...
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If it ain't broke
paint, quaint, maintop, saint, faint, dainty, ain't, unacquainted, the rain in Spain..., ruzuzutainment, 1 Mountain Artill..., Ukraine and 81 more...
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Lexicon Concepts
wackyvorlon My recollection is that it is french for "fast hand". Sep 22, 2008
sashamd c) a dieter's dream Feb 21, 2008
misterpolly b) a newspaper article best read tomorrow Dec 13, 2007