tact
verbEtymology Directly borrowed from Latin tāctus.
1
Human sciences, Psychology, Sciences To use a tact (a kind of verbal operant).
tact
noun/tækt/
Etymology Borrowed from French tact, following a semantic shift from earlier tact (“sense of touch; feeling”), borrowed from Latin tāctus (“touched”). The borrowing was likely influenced by earlier English tact (“sense of touch; feeling”), which was a parallel borrowing directly from the Latin.
1
Sensitive mental touch; special skill or faculty; keen perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances; the ability to say the right thing and avoid statements that will give offence or pain even if true.
- By the use of tact, she was able to calm her jealous husband.
- I used tact when I told my fat uncle that his extra weight made him look better.
2 more examples
- He had formed plans not inferior in grandeur and boldness to those of Richelieu, and had carried them into effect with a tact and wariness worthy of Mazarin.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XI, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
- A tact which surpassed the tact of her sex as much as the tact of her sex surpassed the tact of ours.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XI, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
2
Propriety; manners (etiquette).
- Derived terms
- tactful, tactfulness, tactless