deft
[deft]
- dexterous; nimble; skillful; clever: deft hands; a deft mechanic.
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Origin of deft
Synonym study
See dexterous.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for deftly
Contemporary Examples
Nothing does it quite like deftly decapitating a bottle of bubbly with a gleaming blade.
Soviet forces had deftly enveloped the German 4th and 9th Armies, annihilating some 28 divisions.
In her new memoir, Lena Dunham deftly articulates many of the concerns facing women her age.
Yes, Burns and Ward have produced an Intimate History that deftly weaves together the personal and the political.
Colbert has deftly hosted benefits and other shows and given hilarious and poignant commencement speeches.
Historical Examples
She stood out in the corridor while this was deftly and swiftly done.
Jennie Baxter, JournalistRobert Barr
She guided him deftly back to music, to the opera, to the night of Iphigenia.
The Coryston FamilyMrs. Humphry Ward
He had taken his hat, and was smoothing it deftly with the palm of his hand.
The Market-PlaceHarold Frederic
Yet even from this rebuff he managed to deftly extract a compliment.
James BoswellWilliam Keith Leask
He turned toward her; she accomplished that deftly, then glanced across at the clock.
The Crimson TideRobert W. Chambers
deft
- quick and neat in movement; nimble; dexterous
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Word Origin
C13 (in the sense: gentle): see daft
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for deftly
deft
adj.
Old English gedæfte "mild, gentle," differentiated in Middle English into daft (q.v.) and this word, via sense of "apt, skillful, adept." Cognate with Gothic gadaban "to be fit," Old Norse dafna "to grow strong," Dutch deftig "important, relevant."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper