Fast-handed

adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    With hands that move very quickly.

    "I love the youthful brilliance of Jos Buttler, the chattering chutzpah of Craig Kieswetter, the studied leave of Nick Compton, the fast-handed strokeplay of James Hildreth, the tattoos of Peter Trego, the devotion to weight training of the trainer Daz Veness, even the goatee of chairman Andy Nash."

  2. 2
    Highly efficient at improvisation.

    "Hart is not just posh but well-versed in explaining things with fast-handed diplomacy to unpleasant Johnny Foreigners without loosening his Windsor knot, often deploying that go-to Brit spook gadget, the weaponised umbrella."

  3. 3
    Sexually aggressive.

    ""La Bashta?" she repeated, almost getting the word right. He groaned, leaning back into the pillows, smiling. "No good . . . translation," he managed, then flipped her onto her back. The words meant roughly "hot-blooded, fast-handed woman."

  4. 4
    Greedy, miserly. obsolete

    "The king also being fast-handed, and loath to part With a second dowry, but chiefly being affectionate both by his nature, and out of politic considerations to continue the alliance with Spain, prevailed with the prince, though not without some reluctation, such as could be in those years, for he was not twelve years of age, to be contracted with the Princess Catharine."

Example

More examples

"I love the youthful brilliance of Jos Buttler, the chattering chutzpah of Craig Kieswetter, the studied leave of Nick Compton, the fast-handed strokeplay of James Hildreth, the tattoos of Peter Trego, the devotion to weight training of the trainer Daz Veness, even the goatee of chairman Andy Nash."

Etymology

From fast + handed.

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