dexterous
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin dexter (“right, ready”) + -ous. Displaced native Old English handcræftiġ.
Pronunciation
Adjective
dexterous (comparative more dexterous, superlative most dexterous)
- Skillful with one's hands.
- 1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 57:
- She is pleasingly dexterous with the chopsticks, and keeps one hand lying palm up on her lap. Pinched with just the right pressure between the sticks; funny how plump women have that delicate touch.
- Skillful in some specific thing.
- 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC:
- We went frequently out with this boat a-fishing; and as I was most dexterous to catch fish for him, he never went without me.
- Agile; flexible; able to move fluidly and gracefully.
- (figurative, archaic) Skilled at argumentation; mentally skillful.
- 1775, speech by Edmund Burke
- […] the study [of law] renders men acute, inquisitive, dexterous, prompt in attack, ready in defense […]
- 1775, speech by Edmund Burke
Related terms
Translations
skillful with one's hands
|
skillful in some specific thing
|
agile; flexible
|
See also
Further reading
- “dexterous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “dexterous”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “dexterous”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *deḱs-
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms suffixed with -ous
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛkstɹəs
- Rhymes:English/ɛkstɹəs/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with archaic senses