Tact

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Tact \Tact\, n. [L. tactus a touching, touch, fr. tangere,
     tactum, to touch: cf. F. tact. See {Tangent}.]
     1. The sense of touch; feeling.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Did you suppose that I could not make myself


              sensible to tact as well as sight?    --Southey.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Now, sight is a very refined tact.    --J. Le Conte.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Mus.) The stroke in beating time.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Sensitive mental touch; peculiar skill or faculty; nice
        perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and
        doing what is required by circumstances.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              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.                              --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              A tact which surpassed the tact of her sex as much
              as the tact of her sex surpassed the tact of ours.
                                                    --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  tact
       n : consideration in dealing with others and avoiding giving
           offence [syn: {tactfulness}] [ant: {tactlessness}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  175 Moby Thesaurus words for "tact":
     ability, accommodatingness, acumen, acuteness, address, adeptness,
     adroitness, agreeableness, airmanship, allergy, amenity,
     anaphylaxis, appreciation, appreciation of differences,
     appreciativeness, artfulness, artisanship, artistic judgment,
     artistry, attentiveness, bravura, brilliance, capability, capacity,
     care, carefulness, civility, cleverness, comity, command,
     competence, complaisance, concern, connoisseurship,
     considerateness, consideration, control, coordination,
     courteousness, courtesy, craft, craftsmanship, critical niceness,
     criticalness, cunning, deference, deftness, delicacy, dexterity,
     dexterousness, dextrousness, diplomacy, discernment, discretion,
     discriminating taste, discriminatingness, discrimination,
     discriminativeness, efficiency, empathy, expertise, exquisiteness,
     facility, fastidiousness, feel, feeling, fine palate, fineness,
     finesse, gallantry, grace, gracefulness, graciousness, grip,
     handiness, head, heedfulness, helpfulness, horsemanship,
     hyperesthesia, hyperpathia, hypersensitivity, identification,
     indulgence, ingeniousness, ingenuity, irritability, judgement,
     judiciousness, know-how, leniency, making distinctions,
     marksmanship, mastership, mastery, mindfulness, nervousness,
     niceness of distinction, nicety, obligingness, oversensibility,
     oversensitiveness, overtenderness, palate, passibility, perception,
     perceptiveness, perceptivity, photophobia, poise, policy,
     politeness, politesse, politicness, practical ability, presence,
     prickliness, proficiency, prowess, prudence, quickness, readiness,
     refined discrimination, refined palate, refinement, regard,
     regardfulness, repose, resource, resourcefulness, respect,
     respectfulness, responsiveness, savoir faire, savoir-faire, savvy,
     seamanship, selectiveness, sense, sensibility, sensitiveness,
     sensitivity, sensitization, skill, skillfulness, smoothness,
     solicitousness, solicitude, soreness, style, suavity, subtlety,
     supersensitivity, sympathy, tactfulness, taste,
     technical brilliance, technical mastery, technical skill,
     technique, tenderness, tetchiness, thin skin, thought,
     thoughtfulness, ticklishness, timing, toleration, touchiness,
     understanding, urbanity, virtuosity, wit, wizardry, workmanship