First recorded in 1610–20
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
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
Love has taken on a jack-of-all-trades role since Adams’ return.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 16, 2023
Mann played his way into the rotation in his second season by being an indispensable, high-energy jack-of-all-trades.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 5, 2023
Alf was a jack-of-all-trades, carpenter, tinsmith, blacksmith, electrician, plasterer, scissors grinder, and cobbler.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
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.
