skillful
AmericanRelated Words
Skillful, skilled, expert refer to readiness and adroitness in an occupation, craft, or art. Skillful suggests especially adroitness and dexterity: a skillful watchmaker. Skilled implies having had long experience and thus having acquired a high degree of proficiency: not an amateur but a skilled worker. Expert means having the highest degree of proficiency; it may mean much the same as skillful or skilled, or both: expert workmanship. See also dexterous.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of skillful
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at skill 1, -ful
Explanation
If you're skillful, you're very good at some particular thing. A skillful debater might have a successful career in politics, while a skillful baker could make the best brownies you've ever tasted. Skillful people tend to be experts at something, like a skillful ping pong player or a skillful pianist. You can also use this adjective to mean "done in an expert way," so you could praise your sister's skillful snow fort building or your brother's skillful video gaming. The adjective skillful comes from skill, which is rooted in the Old Norse skil, "distinction, discernment, or adjustment."
Vocabulary lists containing skillful
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.
But a subject not participating in his biography is sometimes for the best: Skillful writers like Mr. O’Brien know how to find the tributaries where rich, untold material lies waiting to be excavated.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026
Skillful handling, curiosity and timing transform what seems ordinary or awkward into dishes that feel intentional.
From Salon • Dec. 30, 2025
Microsoft, for example, is a major financial supporter of Markle’s Skillful program and a member of the Rework America Business Network, a group of companies that have pledged to move toward skills-based hiring.
From New York Times • Apr. 8, 2022
Skillful storytelling and lush language help shape these gorgeous poems.
From Washington Post • Apr. 26, 2018
Skillful as were the men of Phaiakia in ship handling at sea, so were these women skilled at the loom, having this lovely craft and artistry as talents from Athena.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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.
