jack-of-all-trades

American

[jak-uhv-awl-treydz, jak-] / ˌdʒæk əvˈɔlˈtreɪdz, ˈdʒæk- /

noun

plural

jacks-of-all-trades

a person who is adept at many different kinds of work.

jack of all trades British

noun

a person who undertakes many different kinds of work

"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

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.

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

“I was actually calling myself a jack-of-all-trades for a long time,” he continues.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 15, 2024

Once everyone in the secondary is heathy, Bryant could end up being something of jack-of-all-trades reserve, ala Ryan Neal.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 2, 2023

Behind phosphate’s spectacular, jack-of-all-trades utility is a negative charge that prevents unwanted leakage.

From New York Times • Nov. 4, 2022

Luke told me I might be a child of Hermes, a kind of jack-of-all-trades, master of none.

From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023