knack

[ nak ]

/ næk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR knack ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a special skill, talent, or aptitude: He had a knack for saying the right thing.

a clever or adroit way of doing something.

a trick or ruse.

a sharp, cracking sound.

Archaic. a knickknack; trinket.

Nearby words

km/sec, kmc, kmps, kn, kn., knack, knacked, knacker, knacker's yard, knackered, knackery

Origin of knack

1325–75; Middle English: trick; perhaps same word as knak sharp-sounding blow, rap, cracking noise (imitative)

SYNONYMS FOR knack

1 aptness, facility, dexterity.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR knack ON THESAURUS.COM

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for knack

Brinsley was trying to produce tracks—hip-hop, mostly—and he apparently had a knack as a techie.
Alleged Cop Killer’s Blood-Soaked Screenplay|M.L. Nestel|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the film, Foxx is able to showcase his singing, knack for comedy and all-around versatility.
Jamie Foxx: Get Over the Black ‘Annie’|Stereo Williams|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Puck artists, like their predecessors, combined picture-making skills with a caricatural precision and a knack for lethal symbols.
The Magazine That Made—and Unmade—Politicians|Anthony Haden-Guest|November 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Nigel Lythgoe has a knack for resuscitating pop culture tenets that seem on their death bed.
Nigel Lythgoe on How to Save Reality TV, ‘On the Town,’ and ‘Brokeback Ballroom’|Kevin Fallon|October 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST

How did you develop this knack for inventing, and surrealism?
Michel Gondry on ‘Mood Indigo,’ Kanye West, and the 10th Anniversary of ‘Eternal Sunshine’|Marlow Stern|July 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He seemed to own the knack of being wherever the fight was fiercest.
King--of the Khyber Rifles|Talbot Mundy
The planting is not at all tedious after one gets the knack of it, and is light and pleasant work.
The Peanut Plant|B. W. Jones
The bearer of all this tintinnabular clatter is chosen from its superior docility and knack in picking out a way.
Gatherings From Spain|Richard Ford
You have a knack of telling the truth with a light touch that is quite refreshing.
The Abandoned Farmer|Sydney Herman Preston
You will be delighted at the results, after you have caught the knack of applying it.
Memory|William Walker Atkinson

British Dictionary definitions for knack

knack

/ (næk) /

noun

a skilful, ingenious, or resourceful way of doing something

a particular talent or aptitude, esp an intuitive one

Word Origin for knack

C14: probably variant of knak sharp knock, rap, of imitative origin

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

knack

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of knack

SYNONYMS FOR knack

Examples from the Web for knack

British Dictionary definitions for knack

knack

noun

Word Origin for knack