Deft

3 definitions found

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

  deft \deft\ (d[e^]ft), a. [OE. daft, deft, becoming, mild,
     gentle, stupid (cf. OE. daffe, deffe, fool, coward), AS.
     d[ae]ft (in derivatives only) mild, gentle, fitting,
     seasonable; akin to dafen, gedafen, becoming, fit, Goth.
     gadaban to be fit. Cf. {Daft}, {Daff}, {Dapper}.]
     1. Apt; fit; spruce; neat. [Archaic or Poetic] "The deftest


        way." --Shak. "Deftest feats." --Gay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Let me be deft and debonair.          --Byron.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. dexterous; clever; handy; as, a deft feat of legerdemain.
        [PJC]
  
              The limping god, so deft at his new ministry.
                                                    --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  deft
       adj 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" [syn: {dexterous}, {dextrous}]

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

  56 Moby Thesaurus words for "deft":
     Daedalian, adept, adroit, agile, apt, artistic, authoritative,
     bravura, brilliant, brisk, clean, clever, coordinated, crack,
     crackerjack, cunning, cute, daedal, dexterous, dextrous,
     diplomatic, excellent, expert, fancy, fleet, good, goodish,
     graceful, handy, ingenious, magisterial, masterful, masterly, neat,
     neat-handed, nimble, no mean, politic, professional, proficient,
     prompt, quick, quite some, ready, resourceful, skillful, slick,
     some, statesmanlike, stylish, tactful, the compleat, the complete,
     virtuoso, well-done, workmanlike