Deft

adj

adj ·1 syllable ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Quick and neat in action; skillful.

    "He assembled it in one fluid, deft motion."

Adjective
  1. 1
    skillful in physical movements; especially of the hands wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
dexterousadeptadroitagileaptartistic

Example

More examples

"The story becomes a deft blend of tragedy and comedy, such as when Depp, as Barrie, arrives at the Davies London home wearing a feathered American Indian war bonnet and carrying a quacking toy duck."

Etymology

From Middle English defte, daft (“gentle”), from Old English dæfte (“mild, gentle, meek”), from Proto-West Germanic *daftī (“fitting, suitable”), derived from *dabaną (“to be suitable”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₂ebʰ- (“fitting, fit together”). Near cognates include Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌳𐍉𐍆𐍃 (gadōfs, “suitable”), West Frisian deftich (“distinguished”), Dutch deftig (“distinguished”), German deftig (“coarse”). Further cognates include Russian добро (dobro, “wealth, good”) and Latin faber (“craftsman; skillful”). Doublet of daft.

Related phrases

deft-handed

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.