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7 results for: deft

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
deft    Audio Help   [deft] Pronunciation Key
–adjective, -er, -est.
dexterous; nimble; skillful; clever: deft hands; a deft mechanic.
[Origin: 1175–1225; ME; var. of daft]

—Related forms
deftly, adverb
deftness, noun

—Synonyms See dexterous.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
deft

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
deft    Audio Help   (děft)  Pronunciation Key 
adj.   deft·er, deft·est
Quick and skillful; adroit. See Synonyms at dexterous.


[Middle English, gentle, humble, variant of dafte, foolish; see daft.]

deft'ly adv., deft'ness n.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
deft 
O.E. gedæfte "mild, gentle," differentiated in M.E. into daft (q.v.) and this word, via sense of "apt, skillful, adept."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
deft

adjective
skillful in physical movements; especially of the hands; "a deft waiter"; "deft fingers massaged her face"; "dexterous of hand and inventive of mind" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
deft [deft] adjective
skilful, quick and neat
Example: his deft handling of the situation
Arabic: لَبِق، رَشيق
Chinese (Simplified): 灵巧的
Chinese (Traditional): 靈巧的
Czech: obratný, zručný
Danish: behændig; snild
Dutch: behendig
Estonian: osav
Finnish: näppärä
French: adroit
German: geschickt
Greek: επιδέξιος
Hungarian: ügyes
Icelandic: leikinn
Indonesian: cekatan
Italian: abile
Japanese: じょうずな
Korean: 솜씨가 좋은, 노련한
Latvian: veikls; izveicīgs
Lithuanian: miklus, sumanus
Norwegian: fingernem, *-ferdig; dyktig
Polish: zręczny
Portuguese (Brazil): hábil
Portuguese (Portugal): hábil
Romanian: abil
Russian: ловкий
Slovak: obratný
Slovenian: spreten
Spanish: hábil
Swedish: flink, händig, skicklig
Turkish: hünerli, maharetli
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Deft

Daft\ (d[.a]ft), a. [OE. daft, deft, deft, stupid; prob. the same word as E. deft. See Deft.]

1. Stupid; foolish; idiotic; also, delirious; insane; as, he has gone daft.

Let us think no more of this daft business --Sir W. Scott.

2. Gay; playful; frolicsome. [Scot.] --Jamieson.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

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