legerdemain

American  

[lej-er-duh-meyn] / ˌlɛdʒ ər dəˈmeɪn /

noun

1. sleight of hand.

2. trickery; deception.

3. any artful trick.

---

legerdemain British  

/ ˌlɛdʒədəˈmeɪn /

noun

1. another name for sleight of hand

2. cunning deception or trickery

---

Other Word Forms

• legerdemainist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of legerdemain

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English legerdemeyn, lygarde de mayne “skill in conjuring, sleight of hand,” from Middle French léger de main “nimble, skillful,” literally “light of hand” (unrecorded)

Explanation

When a magician waves his hands over a hat and pulls out a rabbit, he is performing an act of legerdemain or trickery. Legerdemain can be used literally to describe a magic trick, or figuratively to describe some other kind of trickery or deceit. If you and some friends cook up a scheme that involves telling complicated lies so that you can stay out all night, you are guilty of legerdemain. The word comes from the French léger de main which means dexterous, or light of hand.

Example Sentences

The latter production shares with "Legerdemain" a bold electronic palette, with "TR-909 kick drums and Juno-106 string pads slamming into compressors," as Sheik described it.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 24, 2015

Even so, that's just what he's doing with "Legerdemain," a smart new set of songs, many about the tension between art and commerce, written entirely outside the context of a dramatic production.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 24, 2015

Legerdemain of this sort is the special talent of 29-year-old Joyce Carol Oates.

From Time Magazine Archive

N.B.--The performance will include a variety of new and surprising feats of Legerdemain never before exhibited.

From In the Days of My Youth by Edwards, Amelia Ann Blanford

Will ye see any feats of activity, Some Sleight of hand, Legerdemain? hey pass, Presto, be gone there?

From Beggars Bush From the Works of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher (Volume 2 of 10) by Beaumont, Francis