Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Possessing or exercising skill; expert. synonym: proficient.
  • adjective Characterized by, exhibiting, or requiring skill.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun etc. See skilful, etc.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective obsolete Discerning; reasonable; judicious; cunning.
  • adjective Possessed of, or displaying, skill; knowing and ready; expert; well-versed; able in management; ; -- often followed by at, in, or of.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Possessing skill.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective done with delicacy and skill
  • adjective having or showing knowledge and skill and aptitude

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English skilful, skylfull, scelvol, equivalent to skill +‎ -ful.

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Examples

  • So skillful is this manipulation that, despite the deliberate poverty of means in the novel's construction, Our Horses in Egypt still tells an affecting story, both in the half concerning Griselda's finally hopeless effort to bring Philomena back alive and in that focusing on the Palestine campaign.

    Narrative Strategies 2009

  • The survey is entitled ranking of unexpected traits in skillful people, suggesting what habits people would not expect to see in successful employees.

    Taspo killing cigarette vending machines 2008

  • 'And while the harmonious arrangement of the skillful is marvellous, the jumble made by the unskilled is grotesque.'

    Architecture and Memory: The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro 2008

  • While I did not pay for, authorize, nor supervise their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natures building materials "debris."

    Dam! 2009

  • While I did not pay for, authorize, nor supervise their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natures building materials "debris."

    Archive 2009-06-01 2009

  • The First Great Mystery of China: How skillful is the leadership?

    Postcards From Tomorrow Square 2006

  • The First Great Mystery of China: How skillful is the leadership?

    Postcards From Tomorrow Square 2006

  • The First Great Mystery of China: How skillful is the leadership?

    Postcards From Tomorrow Square 2006

  • While I did not pay for, authorize, nor supervise their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natures building materials "debris."

    HUMOUR: The Damn Dam! MaksimSmelchak 2006

  • While I did not pay for, authorize, nor supervise their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natures building materials "debris."

    Archive 2006-06-01 MaksimSmelchak 2006

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