jack-of-all-trades
noun
a person who is adept at many different kinds of work.
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jack-of-all-trades
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jack of all trades
jack of all tradesnouna person who undertakes many different kinds of work
jack-of-all-trades
American
[jak-uhv-awl-traydz, jak-]
/ ˌdʒæk əvˈɔlˈtreɪdz, ˈdʒæk- /
noun
-
jacks-of-all-trades
plural
jack of all trades
British
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of jack-of-all-trades
First recorded in 1610–20
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:
He could start by cutting the animated sequence in which Mary, her young charges and Bert, a local jack-of-all-trades, jump into one of Bert’s sidewalk chalk paintings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
With the co-production between Latvia, France and Belgium, Zilbalodis went from being a jack-of-all-trades to forming his own production company — thereby mirroring the loner cat’s sudden need to work in a team environment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2024
“I was actually calling myself a jack-of-all-trades for a long time,” he continues.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2024
Rebecca Miller salvaged the modest furnishings from the studio, including a daybed, a pot-belly wood stove and an old metal office chair that her father, a jack-of-all-trades, insisted on fixing rather than replacing.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 2, 2023
He was a jack-of-all-trades, breaking the sturdy little cow ponies, treating their injuries and illnesses, trimming their hooves, and bending over an anvil to forge their shoes.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
They described him as "mister fix it" who was a "jack of all trades".
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
The human placenta is a jack of all trades.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 29, 2024
I am a jack of all trades in this position and it's super fun, albeit kind of crazy sometimes.
From Salon ● May 25, 2023
Related iPadOS 16 preview: jack of all trades, master of some This news, which confirms a report that Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman released earlier this month, comes alongside the first beta release of iPadOS 16.1.
From The Verge ● Aug. 23, 2022
Vincent is a jack of all trades: he supervises shipments, keeps the account books, runs errands, and does whatever other odd jobs need doing.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
One suggests generalists are jacks-of-all-trades but masters of none, meaning they can tolerate a wider range of conditions or food sources but aren't as dominant as a specialist in any specific niche.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 25, 2024
In other words, some yeasts are jacks-of-all-trades and masters of each.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 25, 2024
Before the professions of typesetters and pressmen split, most printers were jacks-of-all-trades, completing apprenticeships that required they learn every task in a printing office.
From Economist ● May 23, 2018
My real beef with the Mikes is not that they are “vanilla”, however, but that they are neither experts nor jacks-of-all-trades.
From Golf Digest ● May 17, 2017
These musical57 jacks-of-all-trades began as accompanists, singing the songs of their master at the castles he visited.
From Woman's Work in Music by Arthur Elson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
