Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Deft

Definitions: Deft

Deft

Adjective

1. Quick and skillful in movement.

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

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "deft" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1842. (references)

Etymology: Deft \Deft\, adjective. [from Old English expression daft, deft, becoming, mild, gentle, stupid (Compare to Old English daffe, deffe, fool, coward), Anglo-Saxon d[ae]ft (in derivatives only) mild, gentle, fitting, seasonable; akin to dafen, gedafen, becoming, fit, Gothic gadaban to be fit. Compare to Daft, Daff, Dapper.]. (Websters 1913)

 

Abbreviations & Acronyms: Deft

The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted.

EntrySourceExpressionField

DEFT

EnglishDirect Epifluorescent Filter TechniquesN/A

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Synonyms: Deft

Synonyms: dexterous (adj), dextrous (adj). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Deft

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Agreement

Fit adapted, in loco, a propos, appropriate, seasonable, sortable, suitable, idoneous, deft; meet; (expedient).

Skill

Adjective: skillful, dexterous, adroit, expert, apt, handy, quick, deft, ready, gain; slick, smart; (active); proficient, good at, up to, at home in, master of, a good hand at, au fait, thoroughbred, masterly, crack, accomplished; conversant; (knowing).

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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.

Crosswords: Deft

English words defined with "deft": deftly, dexterous, dextrous. (references)
Specialty definitions using "deft": DEFT FELLOW. (references)
Etymologies containing "deft": Daft. (references)

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Photo Album: Deft

ThumbnailDescription & Credit

Remarkable! he said warmly. A remarkably deft performance! Capital! capital!.Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Deft

SubjectTopicQuote

Economic History

Yemen

Handling these issues will require a deft political touch. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Usage Frequency: Deft

"Deft" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Deft" is used about 124 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Adjective (general or positive)100%12428,785

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Deft

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

deft

62

deft inc

6

deft paint

4

deft finish wood

3

deft tone

3

coating deft

3

deft lacquer

3

deft stain

3

deft punk

2

deft finish

2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translations: Deft

Language Translations for "deft"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Albanian

  

i shkathët (adroit, agile, artful, brisk, catlike, clever, cunning, dexterous, dextrous, facile, feat, habile, knacky, light-handed, lightsome, lissom, lissome, lithe, lithesome, loose-limbed, lubricous, natty, neat, neat-handed, nimble, quick-witted, ready, resourceful, shifty, skilful, skillful, slick, smart, spry, supple, swift-handed, tactical, vivacious). (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏ماهر (adept, adroit, astute, clever, consummate, ingenious, nimble, proficient, shrewd, skilful, skilled, skillful, slick, sound, subtle). (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

сръчен (able, adroit, agile, crafty, cunning, dexterous, dextrous, feat, handy, ingenious, knacky, knowing, light-handed, neat-handed, practised, pretty, skilful, skillful, smart, two-handed), пъргав (active, agile, alert, alive, elastic, lissom, lithesome, lively, nifty, nimble, nippy, pretty, prompt, quick, ready, resilient, sinuous, smart, snappy, spring, spry, versatile, volatile, wanton, warm, whippy, zippy). (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

灵巧 (Dexterous, dextrous). (various references)

   

Czech

  

svižný (nimble, rattling, spanking, spry, swinging), obratný (adroit, dexterous, natty, sailorly, skilly), hbitý (agile, light-heeled, nimble, prompt, sprightly, swift, voluble), šikovný (astute, cunning, cute, dexterous, handy, ingenious, natty, nifty, skilled). (various references)

   

Danish

  

direkte,elektronisk Fouriertransformation (direct electronic Fourier transform). (various references)

   

Dutch

  

directe elektronische Fourier-transformatie (direct electronic Fourier transform). (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

ماهر (Adept, Adroit, Cunning, Dexterous, Dextrous, Expert, Great, Handy, Industrious, Jimmy, Natty, Pert, Proficient, Skillful, Slick, Understanding, Workmanlike), چالاک (Adroit, Dexterous, Dextrous, Handy, Jimmy, Lissome, Natty, Nimble, Nippy, Pawky, Peppy, Prompt, Sprightly, Spry), کاردان (Resourceful, Technician), زبردست (Adept, Adroit, Dexterous, Dextrous, Industrious, Proficient), استادانه (Professorial, Scholastic, Workmanlike). (various references)

   

Finnish

  

suora elektroninen Fourier-muunnos (direct electronic Fourier transform). (various references)

   

French

  

transformée de Fourier électronique directe, preste, habile (dexterous), adroit (dexterous). (various references)

   

German

  

gewandt (able, adroit, adroitly, agile, alert, brisk, clever, deftly, dexterous, dexterously, fluently, glib, glibly, handily, keen, neat, neatly, nimble, proficient, ready, skilful, skilled, skillful, skillfully, urbane, urbanely, versa, versus, voluble, volubly), geschickt (able, ably, adept, adroit, agile, agilely, capably, clever, cleverly, competently, cunningly, deftly, dexterous, expert, expertly, glibly, handy, ingenious, neatly, nimble, proficient, shrewd, shrewdly, skilful, skilfully, skilled, skillful, skillfully). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

επιτήδειοσ (clever, crafty, cunning, dexterous, dextrous, great at, handy, shrewd, skilful, skillful, slick, slicker), επιδέξιοσ (adroit, artful, dexterous, dextrous, great at, manipulator, masterful, skilful, skilled, skillful, slick), ευθύς ηλεκτρονικός μετασχηματισμός Φουριέ (direct electronic Fourier transform). (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

ügyes (able, adept, adroit, artful, clean, clever, crafted, cunning, dab, daedalian, dexterous, dextrous, dodge, expeditious, expenditious, facile, feat, good, habile, handy, ingenious, masterly, natty, nimble-fingered, politic, proficient, ready worker, skilful, skillful, skilly, slick, to know how many beans make five, versatile). (various references)

   

Indonesian

  

terampil (dexterous), tangkas (agile, cute, dapper, dexterous, prompt), cekatan (adept, adroit, handy, nimble). (various references)

   

Italian

  

destro (able, adroit, agile, artful, clever, Dexter, dexterous, dextrous, direct, handy, off, proficient, right, right hand, righthand, skilful, skillful, straight), sveglio (able, adroit, alert, awake, brainy, bright, clever, cute, dexterous, downy, proficient, quick, sharp, skillful, smart, wakeful, wide awake), lesto (able, adroit, clever, dexterous, nimble, proficient, quick, skillful), abile (able, adept, adroit, artful, capable, clever, cunning, dexterous, dextrous, efficient, expert, facile, fit, handy, knowing, masterful, masterly, proficient, skilful, skillful). (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

巧妙 (clever, ingenious, skillful). (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

"うみょう (clever, fame, glory, great achievement, hope, ingenious, renown, right future, skillful). (various references)

   

Manx

  

jesh-laueagh (adept, adroit, ambidexterous, ambidextrous, dexterous, handy, slick). (various references)

   

Norwegian

  

netthendt. (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

eftday

   

Portuguese

  

destro (able, adroit, clean, cunning, dexterous, dextrous, feat, knacky, light-headed, natty, neatherd, quick, right handed, righthand, skilful, skillful, slick), transformada directa de Fourier electrónica (direct electronic Fourier transform), perito (Ace, adept, authority, competent, connoisseur, dab, experienced, expert, expert opinion, hakim, judge, land surveyor, master, nailer, proficient, referee, sciential, scientific, skilled, specialist, surveyor, versed), hábil (able, adroit, artful, canny, capable, cattish, circumspective, clever, cunning, dexterous, diplomatic, habile, ingenious, knacky, light-handed, neat, neat-handed, practitioner, skilful, skilled, skillful), ágil (able, active, adroit, agile, alert, brisk, clever, dexterous, keen, kittenish, light footed, lightsome, limber, lissome, list, lithe, lithium, nimble, skillful, springy, spry, volant). (various references)

   

Romanian

  

dibaci (adroit, artful, clever, dexterous, handy, skilful, skilled, skillful, slick, sly, subtle, tricky), iute de mânã (dexterous), iscusit (able, adroit, apt, argute, clean, clever, cute, daedal, ingenious, learned, ready, sharp-sighted, skilful, skilled, skillful, workmanlike), abil (adroit, apt, artful, artistic, artistical, astute, clean, clever, competent, crafty, cunning, deep, dexterous, fit, handy, industrious, knowing, natty, qualified, ready, resourceful, sharp, shifty, skilful, skilfully, skilled, skillful, skillfully, sly, smart, subtle, swift-handed, versatile), îndemânatic (adroit, adroitly, clever, dexterous, dextrous, handy, light-handed, natty, skilful, skillful, slick, subtle, tricky, workmanlike). (various references)

   

Russian 

  

ловкий (adept, adroit, artful, clean, crafty, cunning, dexterous, dextrous, dodgy, feat, habile, handy, knacky, knowing, light fingered, light-handed, natty, neat, neat-handed, politic, sailorly, skilful, skillful, slick, swift-handed, tactical, tricky), проворный (adroit, agile, brisk, dexterous, dextrous, light-footed, limber, lissom, lissome, lithesome, nimble, nippy, on the jump, quick, rash, zippy). (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

vešt (able, accomplished, adept, adroit, artful, clever, cunning, daedal, dexterous, habile, handy, knacky, knowing, proficient, sciential, skilled, skillful, slick, subtle, tall), spretan (adroit, dexterous, habile, handy, neat-handed, nimble, skilled, wieldy). (various references)

   

Spanish

  

ágil (able, adroit, agile, clever, dexterous, limber, lissom, lissome, lithe, lithesome, nifty, nimble, nippy, proficient, quick, skillful, spry, zappy). (various references)

   

Swedish

  

skicklig (able, ably, accomplished, adept, adroit, be cunning, clever, dexterous, dextrous, expert, fine, handsome, ingenious, knacky, knowing, neat, neat-handed, proficient, skilful, skilled, skillful), händig (adroit, dexterous, dextrous, handy, wieldy). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

usta (adept, adroit, artist, connoisseur, constructor, craftsman, dab, dabster, dexterous, experienced, expert, facile, hand, ingenious, intelligent, journeyman, master, old hand, proficient, shark, skilful, skilled, skillful, slick, subtile, versed, whizz, wise, workman, Wright), eli yatkın (handsome, inclined, skilled), becerikli (adept, adroit, agile, capable, clever, designing, dexterous, dextrous, efficient, facile, gifted, handsome, ingenious, knowing, light-handed, neat, nimble-fingered, performing, practical, pushful, pushing, ready, resourceful, shifty, skilful, skilled, skillful, skilly, slick, smart, versatile, wise). (various references)

   

Turkmen 

  

яьwrьk (nimble, quick), зakgan (adroit, dextrous). (various references)

   

Ukranian 

  

спритний (adroit, agile, alert, arch, artful, canny, cunning, dexterous, dodgy, fly, handy, light fingered, light-handed, natty, nifty, nimble, nimble footed, nimble-fingered, pert, politic, practical, shuffling, slick, tactical, whipping, wide awake, zippy), спокійний (balanced, calm, canny, collected, composed, cool, cool-headed, easeful, even-minded, halcyon, impassive, laidback, leisurable, orderly, placid, quiescent, quiet, relaxed, reposeful, restful, secure, sound, together, tranquil, unruffled), чепурний (cleanly, dink, natty, neat, trim), вправний (able, accomplished, adroit, artful, canny, capable, clever, crafty, cunning, good, handy, jemmy, neat, neat-handed, nifty, practised, proficient), охайний (clean, cleanly, natty, neat, orderly, shipshape, smart, smug, spiffed, tidy), моторний (adroit, agile, alert, dapper, dashing, dexterous, lissome, lithesome, mercurial, motor, nimble, nippy, ready, spry, volant). (various references)

   

Vietnamese 

  

khéo tay (adroit, cunning, dexterous, dextrous, light-fingered, neat-handed, nimble-fingered, skilful, workmanlike), khéo léo (ably, acrobatically, adroit, aptly, artistic, artistical, clever, neat-handed, patent, skilful, workmanlike). (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Deft

Derivations

Words beginning with "deft": defter, deftest, deftly, deftness, deftnesses. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Deft" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: adeft, dafts, dafty, deaft, deat, dect, dectp, deef, deet, defat, Defb, defe, deff, defi, defit, Defs, defts, defty, Defu, delt, deot, dert, dest, D'est, det, dett, devet, dewt, dext, deyt, df, dfd, Dfe, dfen, dfg, diffk, diffm, dift, doef, doft, dofts, dofu, dref, dreff, drefn, dreft, duft, dweft, Edcf, edt, edtv, eft, ietf, meft, tefft, teft, xef, zeft. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Rhyming with "Deft"

# of Phoneme MatchesPronunciationWord(s) rhyming with "deft" (pronounced de"ft)
3-e" f tantitheft, bereft, cleft, heft, left, theft.

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

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Anagrams: Deft

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "d-e-f-t"

-1 letter: eft, fed, fet, ted.

-2 letters: de, ed, ef, et.

 Words containing the letters "d-e-f-t"
 

+1 letter: defat, delft, fated, feted, fetid.

 

+2 letters: dafter, defats, defeat, defect, defter, deftly, delfts, farted, fasted, fatted, felted, fetted, fidget, fisted, fitted, flited, fluted, flyted, foetid, footed, futzed, gifted, hafted, hefted, lifted, lofted, rafted, rifted, sifted, tiffed, tufted, turfed, wafted.

 

+3 letters: bedfast, clefted, crafted, daftest, deafest, default, defeats, defects, defiant, deficit, deflate, deflect, defrost, deftest, defunct, drafted, draftee, drafter, drifted, drifter, faceted, fadeout, fagoted, fainted, faithed, fathead, faulted, feasted, feedlot, feinted, fetched, fetidly, fettled, feudist, fideist, fidgets, fidgety, fileted, fixated, flatbed, flatted, fleeted, flinted, flirted, flitted, floated, flouted, foisted, fondest, footled, fracted, fretted, fritted, fronted, frosted, frothed, fruited, grafted, grifted, redraft, refuted, shafted, shifted, staffed, stiffed, stifled, strafed, stuffed, telford, tenfold, trifled.

 

+4 letters: affected, befitted, buffeted, citified, cityfied, confuted, daffiest, daftness, deadlift, deathful, defatted, defaults, defeated, defeater, defecate, defected, defector, deferent, deficits, definite, deflated, deflater, deflates, deflator, deflects, deforest, defrosts, deftness, detoxify, draftees, drafters, draftier, driftage, drifters, driftier, dwarfest, dyestuff, effected, facetted, factored, faddiest, fadeouts, faggoted, falcated, faltered, fastened, fatheads, fathered, fathomed, fatigued, fattened, featured, federate, feedlots, fellated, ferreted, festered, feticide, fettered, feudists, fideists, fidelity, fidgeted, fidgeter, filiated, filleted, filtered, finitude, flatbeds, flathead, flaunted, fletched, flighted, flitched, foliated, fomented, foredate, forested, foretold, fortuned, fostered, foveated, frighted, frosteds, frowsted, furcated, gatefold, giftedly, identify, infected, infested, inflated, leftward, notified, outfaced, outfield, outfired, outfoxed, piedfort, profited, raftered, ratified, redefeat, redefect, redrafts, redshift, refected, refitted, reflated, resifted, safetied, sheetfed, softened, softhead, stedfast, sulfated, tariffed, telfered, telfords, tenfolds, tepefied, tiffined, tradeoff, truffled, tumefied, typified, unfitted, ungifted, unsifted, untufted, uplifted, upwafted.

 

+5 letters: acetified, afflicted, affronted, afterdeck, afterward, afterword, airlifted, asafetida, batfowled, beatified, befretted, benefited, brutified, certified, comforted, confected, confident, conflated, deadlifts, deceitful, decertify, defalcate, defatting, defaulted, defaulter, defeaters, defeating, defeatism, defeatist, defeature, defecated, defecates, defecting, defection, defective, defectors, defendant, deferents, deferment, defiantly, deficient, deflaters, deflating, deflation, deflators, deflected, deflector, defoliant, defoliate, deforests, deformity, defrosted, defroster, delftware, demystify, denitrify, dentiform, devitrify, different, diffident, disaffect, disinfect, disinfest, draffiest, draftable, draftiest, draftsmen, driftages, driftiest, dyestuffs, eightfold, engrafted, fantasied, farmstead, fasciated, fatheaded, feathered, fecundate, fecundity, federated, federates, feedstock, feedstuff, fermented, festooned, feticides, fetidness, feudalist, feudality, feudatory, fideistic, fidgeters, fidgeting, filtrated, finitudes, flatheads, flatlined, flattened, flattered, fledgiest, flittered, floodgate, floriated, flustered, fluttered, footnoted, foredated, foredates, forfeited, formatted, fortified, fortitude, foxhunted, fractured, fraughted, freighted, frittered, fumigated, fundament, furthered, gatefolds, godfather, gratified, headfirst, hotfooted, infarcted, inflected, inflicted, infracted, ingrafted, interfold, introfied, justified, leafleted, leftwards, lithified, metrified, misfitted, mortified, mystified, nitrified, outfabled, outfasted, outfawned, outfields, outfished, outfitted, outflowed, outfooled, outfooted, overdraft, perfected, petrified, piedforts, postfixed, presifted, putrefied, rectified, redefeats, redefects, redrafted, redshifts, reflected, refloated, refracted, refronted, regrafted, restaffed, restuffed, satisfied, softheads, steadfast, stiffened, stupefied, sufflated, surfeited, tackified, terrified, testified, threadfin, threefold, torrefied, torrified, tradeoffs, underfoot, unshifted, upshifted, vitrified.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

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Alternative Orthography: Deft


Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

44 65 66 74

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)

=

Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)

Braille (1829, in France) (references)

Morse Code (1836) (references)

-..    .    ..-.    -

Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

01000100 01100101 01100110 01110100

HTML Code (1990) (references)

&#68 &#101 &#102 &#116

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

0044 0065 0066 0074

British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

38717286

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Synonyms
3. Crosswords
4. Images: Photo Album
5. Quotations: Non-fiction
6. Usage Frequency
7. Expressions: Internet
8. Translations: Modern
9. Abbreviations
10. Acronyms
11. Derivations
12. Rhymes
13. Anagrams
14. Orthography
15. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.