noun
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a skilful, ingenious, or resourceful way of doing something
-
a particular talent or aptitude, esp an intuitive one
Etymology
Origin of knack
1325–75; Middle English: trick; perhaps same word as knak sharp-sounding blow, rap, cracking noise (imitative)
Explanation
If you have a knack for doing something, you do it well. You may have a knack for baking cakes or a knack for cracking jokes. These things come easy to you. Although the noun knack refers to a special talent, the sense is that it is a more innate talent — as opposed to a certain technique. So if someone instinctively has a talent for fixing plumbing, for example, you can say they have a knack for it. If, however, they unclog a sink by having a wrench in one hand and a how-to book in the other, then they may have the technique, but they probably don't have the knack.
Vocabulary lists containing knack
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Girl Who Drank the Moon
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Just Mercy
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
While Patchett has clearly drawn on actual events and individuals to produce this luminous work, she exhibits the expert novelist’s knack for following a plot where the imagination takes it.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2026
What sets their story apart from other revenge-laden tales of late is Harris’ remarkable knack for unvarnished realism.
From Salon • May 19, 2026
Yet he possesses an uncanny knack for actually hitting the ball straight.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
For the Greens, it's the first national test of whether Zack Polanski's exuberance and knack for grabbing headlines translates into actual power.
From BBC • May 2, 2026
Though he was entirely self-taught, never learned Latin, and had scant understanding of Linnaean classifications, he was a prize plant collector, with an uncanny knack for finding and recognizing unknown species.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
