Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Quick and skillful in body or mind; deft. synonym: dexterous.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Dexterous; skilful; expert in the use of the hand, and hence of the mind; ingenious; ready in invention or execution; possessing readiness of resource.
  • Synonyms Cunning, Artful, Sly, etc. See cunning. Adroit, Dexterous, Expert, Skilful, Clever, smart, handy, apt, quick, subtle. The first four words express primarily various degrees in the combination of manual facility with knowledge. Adroit and dexterous make prominent the idea of a trained hand: as, an adroit pickpocket; a dexterous conjurer, swordsman. Adroitness implies quickness or suddenness; dexterity may require sustained agility. Adroit tends toward sinister figurative meanings: as, an adroit rogue; but mental adroitness may be simply address or tact. Expert emphasizes experience, practice, and hence is commonly a lower word than skilful, which makes knowledge the principal thing: a skilful mechanic makes more use of his mind than an expert mechanic. Clever implies notable quickness, readiness, resource in practical affairs, and sometimes the lack of the larger powers of mind: a clever mechanic has fertility in planning and skill in executing what is planned. A clever statesman may or may not be an able one; a man may be clever in evil.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Dexterous in the use of the hands or in the exercise of the mental faculties; exhibiting skill and readiness in avoiding danger or escaping difficulty; ready in invention or execution; -- applied to persons and to acts.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective dexterous, deft or skillful

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective quick or skillful or adept in action or thought

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from à droit : à, to (from Latin ad; see ad–) + droit, right (from Latin dīrēctus; see direct).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Borrowed from French adroit.

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Examples

  • In other words, we expect quite a lot from the "adroit" waiter from the point of view of active knowledge gathering and skillful orchestration of movements based on the current cognitive map -- representation of the world and management of the body.

    Being clumsy Daniel Little 2009

  • So what is the standard of competence and performance that we implicitly have in mind when we deploy the standards of "adroit" and "clumsy" when it comes to physical performances?

    Archive 2009-05-01 Daniel Little 2009

  • In other words, we expect quite a lot from the "adroit" waiter from the point of view of active knowledge gathering and skillful orchestration of movements based on the current cognitive map -- representation of the world and management of the body.

    Archive 2009-05-01 Daniel Little 2009

  • So what is the standard of competence and performance that we implicitly have in mind when we deploy the standards of "adroit" and "clumsy" when it comes to physical performances?

    Being clumsy Daniel Little 2009

  • But humble people do not claim -- as Bernanke does, under Congress 'mandate -- the competence to simultaneously produce, with "adroit" policies, price stability and full employment.

    NY Post: News By GEORGE F. WILL 2009

  • But humble people do not claim -- as Bernanke does, under Congress 'mandate -- the competence to simultaneously produce, with "adroit" policies, price stability and full employment.

    NY Post: News By GEORGE F. WILL 2009

  • But humble people do not claim -- as Bernanke does, under Congress 'mandate -- the competence to simultaneously produce, with "adroit" policies, price stability and full employment.

    chicagotribune.com - 2009

  • But humble people do not claim - as Bernanke does, under Congress 'mandate - the competence to simultaneously produce, with "adroit" policies, price stability and full employment.

    HeraldNet.com Local, Sports, Business and Entertainment News 2009

  • But humble people do not claim - as Bernanke does, under Congress 'mandate - the competence to simultaneously produce, with "adroit" policies, price stability and full employment.

    Latest News 2009

  • If it is not too soon to reuse the word "adroit", that is certainly how I would describe Mr Key's management of the 14-day political transition from Labour to National.

    Kiwiblog 2008

Comments

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  • "Its leader, Khomeini, made adroit use of Shiite history and Iranian nationalism to attract ever-increasing support. He managed to unite the disparate anti-Shah forces, both religious and secular -- including Marxists of various shades -- by his most radical demand: the deposition of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi."

    - Dilip Hiro, The Clash of Islam and Democracy in Iran, tomdispatch.com, 28 June 2009.

    June 29, 2009

  • 1906 US Railway Association Standard Cipher Code; telegraph shorthand for "Shall we change the advertisement?".

    January 19, 2013