Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Acute sensitivity to what is proper and appropriate in dealing with others, including the ability to speak or act without offending.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A touching; touch.
- noun The sense of touch.
- noun Mental perception; especially, fine perception; intuitive sense of what is true, right, or proper; fineness of discernment as to action or conduct, especially a fine sense of how to avoid giving offense; ability to do or say what is best for the intended effect; adroitness; cleverness; address.
- noun In music, a beat or pulse; especially, the emphatic down-beat with which a measure begins; hence, also, a measure.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The sense of touch; feeling.
- noun (Mus.) The stroke in beating time.
- noun Sensitive mental touch; peculiar skill or faculty; nice perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The sense of touch; feeling.
- noun music The stroke in beating time.
- noun Sensitive mental touch; peculiar skill or faculty; nice perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances.
- noun The ability to deal with embarrassing situations carefully and without doing or saying anything that will annoy or upset other people; careful consideration in dealing with others to avoid giving offense; the ability to say right thing.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun consideration in dealing with others and avoiding giving offense
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word tact.
Examples
-
A wealthy cit has as little regard for men of letters as a fashionable, nor has he the same tact of concealing his indifference; the well-bred man of fashion, who is alone truly the man of fashion, studies _tact_ above all things, and his tact prevents him ever regarding men of mind with any thing approaching contempt.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 53, No. 327, January, 1843 Various
-
Having the bulk of commuters come through the existing entrance, keeping the stairs in tact is "not appropriate, and it's not safe," he added.
World Financial Overhaul Hits Snag Eliot Brown 2010
-
She was accomplished — possessed of that fine perception and sensitiveness, and that ready power of self-adaptation to the peculiarities and moods of others, which we term tact — and was, moreover, gifted with a certain natural grace, and manners the most winning imaginable.
The Evil Guest 2003
-
We want to keep that part of the system mostly in tact, but if we remove the cap on taxes, we want to cap off the benefits we pay out.
Matthew Yglesias » Ben Smith Says the Left Won’t Object to Entitlement Cuts 2009
-
Those who can not fight with honor and morals in tact, deserve to rot in hell for all eternity.
-
Family outings, for any in tact family (especially "families of color") is important.
-
Obviously, she still loves him and wants to keep her family in tact ... but enough is enough.
-
Our president should be applauding Honduras for keeping democracy in tact!
-
As my writing tenure proceeded, I received a crash course in tact, sensitivity, and compassion, which I in turn tried to incorporate in my writing and my actions.
Jeff A. Katz: We're All DKEs Sometimes... Jeff A. Katz 2010
-
As my writing tenure proceeded, I received a crash course in tact, sensitivity, and compassion, which I in turn tried to incorporate in my writing and my actions.
Jeff A. Katz: We're All DKEs Sometimes... Jeff A. Katz 2010
myth commented on the word tact
Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell, and still have them look forward to the trip. - Sir Winston Churchill
March 8, 2009