dexterity
Americannoun
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dexterities
plural
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skill or adroitness in using the hands or body; agility.
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mental adroitness or skill; cleverness.
noun
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physical, esp manual, skill or nimbleness
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mental skill or adroitness: cleverness
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rare the characteristic of being right-handed
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of dexterity
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin dexteritās “readiness, skillfulness,” from dexter “skillful” + -itās -ity
Explanation
If you fall asleep with your heavy head on your arm, you might not have the dexterity, or control of your hand, to hit the OFF button on the alarm clock in the morning. Very small children do well with mittens, because their dexterity, or skill in using their hands, isn’t as developed as in older kids and adults, who wear gloves to separate their fingers. Dexterity helps fingers and hands to coordinate for completing fine tasks like writing, sewing, and playing string instruments. "Mental dexterity" means a sharpness of mind, or skill in thinking creatively and understanding and expressing something quickly and easily.
Vocabulary lists containing dexterity
Romeo and Juliet
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The Hunger Games
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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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:
Amodei sent Brown to put that diplomatic dexterity to work in Washington.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Early is so certain of everything he wants his debut film to be, and executes those desires with such consistent dexterity and style that watching “Maddie’s Secret” is akin to seeing someone win the lottery.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
"For its honesty, power and storytelling dexterity, our 2026 winner will also be one of the most important."
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
Sharpa is an AI start-up developing hands that have humanlike dexterity.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
He could handle a basketball with remarkable dexterity for one who had abandoned the court so long ago.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
The crusty paint on ragged burlap, the blurred and bulbous shapes, can only be made to look tragic within the context of Klee's earlier dexterities.
From Time Magazine Archive
Nothing more salutary for Irene Derwent than this sojourn with persons whom she in every way respected—with whom there was not the least temptation to exhibit her mere dexterities.
From The Crown of Life by George Gissing
His incapacity for acquiring the dexterities by which men accommodate themselves to their neighbours' wants implied a tendency rather to under-estimate the worth, whatever it may be, of such dexterities.
From The Life of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, Bart., K.C.S.I. A Judge of the High Court of Justice by Sir Leslie Stephen
Discipline, the dexterities of strategy, an enlightened courage, and the tremendous force of esprit de corps were alike nullified.
From The Story of Old Fort Loudon by Mary Noailles Murfree
And so, by a pretty rapid evolution, the dexterities which the boxing glove and the Queensberry rules were supposed to substitute for the old brutalities of Sayers and Heenan were really abolished by them.
From The Admirable Bashville or, Constancy Unrewarded by Bernard Shaw
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.
