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
- quasi-skillful adjective
- quasi-skillfully adverb
- skillfully adverb
- skillfulness noun
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.
And Mr. Paul’s songs are skillful homages to favorite tunes from the musical-theater canon such as Billy’s “Soliloquy” from “Carousel” and “Ya Got Trouble” from “The Music Man.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
The emphasis on skillful play and Bloodborne's gothic, Victorian setting made it an instant favourite with critics, and it's widely regarded as one of the best video games of all time.
From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026
At his best, he is undoubtedly one of England's most skillful seamers but his fitness and reliability remains a concern.
From BBC • Jan. 11, 2026
Martin cites Timothée Chalamet’s orange-hued campaign for “Marty Supreme” as a particularly skillful deployment of the trend.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2025
I stirred until my arm ached and painted the samples as smoothly as I could, becoming more skillful as I went along.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
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.
