Deftly

adv

adv ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    In a deft manner; quickly and neatly in action.

    "For five minutes Pollyanna worked swiftly, deftly, combing a refractory curl into fluffiness, perking up a drooping ruffle at the neck, or shaking a pillow into plumpness so that the head might have a better pose. Meanwhile the sick woman, frowning prodigiously, and openly scoffing at the whole procedure, was, in spite of herself, beginning to tingle with a feeling perilously near to excitement."

Adverb
  1. 1
    in a deft manner wordnet
  2. 2
    with dexterity; in a dexterous manner wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
dexterouslyskillfullyablyadeptlyadroitlyagilely

Example

More examples

"Keiko deftly piles up the cutlery and takes them to the sink."

Etymology

From deft + -ly.

More for "deftly"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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