dexterous
adj/ˈdɛkstɹəs/
Etymology From Latin dexter (“right, ready”) + -ous. Displaced native Old English handcræftiġ.
1
Skillful with one's hands.
- 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.1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 57:
2
Skillful in some specific thing.
- 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.1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC:
3
Agile; flexible; able to move fluidly and gracefully.
4
Archaic, Figuratively Skilled at argumentation; mentally skillful; quick-witted.
- 1775, speech by Edmund Burke […] the study [of law] renders men acute, inquisitive, dexterous, prompt in attack, ready in defense […]
- Derived terms
- dexterously, dexterousness, nondexterous, undexterous