skill
1 Americannoun
-
skills
plural
-
the ability, coming from one's knowledge, practice, aptitude, etc., to do something well.
Carpentry was one of his many skills.
- Synonyms:
- facility, proficiency
- Antonyms:
- inability
-
competent excellence in performance; expertness; dexterity.
The dancers performed with skill.
- Synonyms:
- cleverness, deftness
-
a craft, trade, or job requiring manual dexterity or special training in which a person has competence and experience.
the skill of cabinetmaking.
-
Obsolete. understanding; discernment.
-
Obsolete. reason; cause.
verb (used without object)
-
to matter.
-
to help; avail.
noun
-
special ability in a task, sport, etc, esp ability acquired by training
-
something, esp a trade or technique, requiring special training or manual proficiency
-
obsolete understanding
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of skill1
First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English, from Old Norse skil “distinction, difference”; cognate with Dutch geschil “difference, quarrel”; see skill 2 ( def. )
Origin of skill2
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English skilien, from Old Norse skilja “to distinguish, divide,” akin to skil ( see skill 1 ( def. )), Old English scylian “to separate,” Gothic skilja “butcher,” Lithuanian skélti “to split”
Explanation
If you have an ability that required practice, training, or experience, you have a skill. His welding skill allowed him to create wonderful pieces of art out of metal plumbing pipes. He called his best work "Peace Pipes." Chess is a game of skill, but Old Maid is a game of luck. The noun skill comes from an Old Norse word, skil, which means distinction. His swimming skills left a lot to be desired: he flailed around in the pool, churning up water like an egg beater. It kept him from drowning, but it didn't look pretty. You're supposed to learn basic math and reading skills in elementary school.
Vocabulary lists containing skill
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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.
See Examples For:
The robots carried out some tasks — such as mopping, vacuuming, wiping and dusting — with surprising skill.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
“If you want to own the whole problem and actually do the transformation, you can’t come in with just a limited skill set of being able to just deploy AI,” Grewal said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
"AI has really revolutionised weather forecasting in the sense that you can actually now predict weather much faster, with a really high skill and with a high performance," Pappenberger told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
New research from Binghamton University suggests that these healthy routines are connected to a mental skill called psychological flexibility, which helps people adapt to challenges and recover from stressful experiences.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
She also had practice in the essential séance skill of listening with grave attention.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
"It's about building their resilience... what skills can we teach rather than change their outcomes?"
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Croick and Dieffenbach worked via Zoom to study schemes, installations and the skills it took to play under center.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
He described it as an "investment in Rwanda's future" that would bring "jobs, skills, tourism and new business to our country and our region for decades to come".
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
The document, prepared for the Las Vegas Raiders as part of a coaching search, attempts to sum up Flores’s skills in candid, and sometimes controversial, terms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Now he put his cloak-and-dagger skills to work at the Three Lions, where a state-of-the-art security system and the hotel’s unique triangular shape allowed him to keep a constant eye on anyone approaching the building.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
