dexterity
Americannoun
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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
- nondexterity noun
Etymology
Origin of dexterity
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin dexteritās “readiness, skillfulness,” from dexter “skillful” + -itās -ity
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.
She believes that “high-skilled work” that requires the “motion and dexterity of our hands” is still essential for the likes of construction workers, electricians and child-care workers.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 12, 2026
New research published Thursday in the journal Science details how the whiskers that cover an elephant's trunk have unique properties that lend the largest land mammals remarkable dexterity.
From Barron's • Feb. 12, 2026
Musk promised it will have "the manual dexterity of a human, meaning a very complex hand".
From BBC • Feb. 12, 2026
Maybe it’s the result of her lifelong comedy background; maybe it’s some leftover dexterity from her years playing the pollyanna icon Leslie Knope on “Parks and Recreation.”
From Salon • Jan. 16, 2026
Mary didn’t realize until months later that he’d been studying her hands, checking their dexterity and strength to see how they’d stand up to hours of delicate cutting, scraping, tweezing, and pipetting.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
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.
