deft
adj/dɛft/UK
Etymology
From Middle English defte, daft (“gentle”), from Old English dæfte (“mild, gentle, meek”), from Proto-West Germanic *daftī (“fitting, suitable”), derived from *dabaną (“to be suitable”). Near cognates include Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌳𐍉𐍆𐍃 (gadōfs, “suitable”), West Frisian deftich (“distinguished”), Dutch deftig (“distinguished”), German deftig (“coarse”). Further cognates include Russian добро (dobro, “wealth, good”) and Latin faber (“craftsman; skillful”). Doublet of daft.
Definitions
Quick and neat in action
Quick and neat in action; skillful.
- He assembled it in one fluid, deft motion.
- Alvarez then got on the scoresheet after the hosts carved open the Huddersfield defence with some intricate passing before the Argentina forward's deft finish rolled into the net.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for deft. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA