jack-of-all-trades
noun
a person who is adept at many different kinds of work.
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jack-of-all-trades
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jack of all trades
jack of all tradesnouna person who undertakes many different kinds of work
jack-of-all-trades
American
[jak-uhv-awl-traydz, jak-]
/ ˌdʒæk əvˈɔlˈtreɪdz, ˈdʒæk- /
noun
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jacks-of-all-trades
plural
jack of all trades
British
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
Anunoby had never made an All-Star team, but he was basketball’s ultimate jack-of-all-trades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
He eventually ended up in Florida, where he became a jack-of-all-trades carny and developed a sharp instinct for advance publicity and promotion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2025
Stern described his longtime friend as tremendously talented, a MacGyver and a jack-of-all-trades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2023
They join a lineup featuring jack-of-all-trades Dominic Fike, pop-punk darling WILLOW, alternative/indie rock artist Alex G., post-rock band Explosions in the Sky and Yaeji, who blends hip-hop, house and more in English and Korean lyrics.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 9, 2023
Alf was a jack-of-all-trades, carpenter, tinsmith, blacksmith, electrician, plasterer, scissors grinder, and cobbler.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Greek yogurt, at its core, is a jack of all trades.
From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2026
He later relocated to the Luton area for work and described himself as a "jack of all trades, master of none", working in a variety of jobs including at Vauxhall and Luton Airport.
From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2025
The human placenta is a jack of all trades.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 29, 2024
I use my platform to say that people in musical theater are not jack of all trades, master of none.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2023
I’m a jack of all trades, so to speak, master of few and so is Perry.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
One suggests generalists are jacks-of-all-trades but masters of none, meaning they can tolerate a wider range of conditions or food sources but aren't as dominant as a specialist in any specific niche.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 25, 2024
In other words, some yeasts are jacks-of-all-trades and masters of each.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 25, 2024
Before the professions of typesetters and pressmen split, most printers were jacks-of-all-trades, completing apprenticeships that required they learn every task in a printing office.
From Economist ● May 23, 2018
My real beef with the Mikes is not that they are “vanilla”, however, but that they are neither experts nor jacks-of-all-trades.
From Golf Digest ● May 17, 2017
For two days the two jacks-of-all-trades worked at many lines and with many materials before Stevens called a halt.
From Spacehounds of IPC by E. E. (Edward Elmer) Smith
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