deft
Americanadjective
-
defter,
comparative
-
deftest
superlative
adjective
Synonym Usage
See dexterous.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of deft
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English; variant of daft
Explanation
Deft means "showing cleverness and skill in handling things." What you want to see in football or basketball is some deft handling of the ball. Some people are physically deft, like accomplished athletes and ballet dancers. Their movements are fast, graceful, and deliberate. Others might be mentally or intellectually deft. You could describe a beautifully written essay as deft, or talk about a politician's deft work on an anti-bullying bill. The source of deft is the Old English gedæfte, "mild or gentle," which became deft in Middle English along with its meaning of "apt, skillful, or adept."
Vocabulary lists containing deft
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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:
“We hear the VP views Schmitt as trustworthy, intelligent, articulate and a deft political operator,” VandeHei wrote.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2026
Clive James’s deft translation, published in 2013, restructures the work’s original terza rima into quatrains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Nadira Goffe praises Lanterns’ deft portrayal of the Black American experience.
From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2026
Yet Cusk has found a large fan base for her work, mainly because she is a deft excavator of the human psyche, a writer who can articulate emotional states with uncanny precision and insight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
The admiral proved deft at finding the wind he needed to keep the Bloomer in view.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Andrew Bayliss, the author of “Sparta: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Superpower,” is a defter writer than Xenophon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
But this particular story needed a defter touch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2021
Whatever one may wonder about Özil’s motivations, he has shown a defter touch on social media than most of his teammates have managed on the pitch since the season began.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 30, 2020
The balance of mystery and resolution felt defter here than it has in a few episodes, but there were still messes aplenty.
From New York Times ● Dec. 3, 2015
Fair English hands can copy every trick of ancient artistry: finger-skill was never defter, will was never more ardent to do fine things, than now.
From Arts and Crafts Essays by Members of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society by Various
The skill with which Friedan connects the dots between the subjugation of intelligent, educated women and the ruthless, calculated mind-numbing agenda of consumerism turns out to be her deftest move.
From Salon ● Jan. 5, 2025
Bourgue continued to produce an array of winners, including the deftest of drop shots, to delight the home crowd in Philippe Chatrier court.
From BBC ● May 25, 2016
Jay Roach’s movie follows the tribulations—and exhausted triumphs—of Dalton Trumbo, one of the deftest of American screenwriters.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 9, 2015
Diego Valeri introduced himself with the deftest of touches against New York Red Bulls last week, as he scored a wonderful goal within 15 minutes of kicking off his first competitive Timbers game.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 8, 2013
Whither roves the tuneful swain Who, of rural pleasures, Rose and violet, rill and plain, Sang in deftest measures?
From The Development of the Feeling for Nature in the Middle Ages and Modern Times by Alfred Biese
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.
