dexterity
Americannoun
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skill or adroitness in using the hands or body; agility.
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mental adroitness or skill; cleverness.
noun
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physical, esp manual, skill or nimbleness
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mental skill or adroitness: cleverness
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rare the characteristic of being right-handed
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dexterity
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin dexteritās “readiness, skillfulness,” from dexter “skillful” + -itās -ity
Explanation
If you fall asleep with your heavy head on your arm, you might not have the dexterity, or control of your hand, to hit the OFF button on the alarm clock in the morning. Very small children do well with mittens, because their dexterity, or skill in using their hands, isn’t as developed as in older kids and adults, who wear gloves to separate their fingers. Dexterity helps fingers and hands to coordinate for completing fine tasks like writing, sewing, and playing string instruments. "Mental dexterity" means a sharpness of mind, or skill in thinking creatively and understanding and expressing something quickly and easily.
Vocabulary lists containing dexterity
Romeo and Juliet
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The Hunger Games
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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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.
Mr Walker's team, together with 26 other engineering firms, are working to design a hand more like ours - it's part of what's known as the Robot Dexterity Programme.
From BBC • Oct. 27, 2025
“Prices had to come back down to earth, and it happened,” said Abraham Chaibi, co-founder of crypto trading firm Dexterity Capital.
From Washington Post • May 12, 2022
Dexterity of the tongue is more important than dexterity of the fingers.
From The Guardian • Sep. 5, 2015
Dexterity demonstrated and hilarity dispatched, Mr. van Houdt turned to different strains of complexity for the rest of his program.
From New York Times • Mar. 26, 2014
Dexterity and a cool wit were a match for the pirate's untamable strength.
From Blackbeard: Buccaneer by Schoonover, Frank Earle
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.
