adroit

adjective

ə-ˈdrȯit 

: having or showing skill, cleverness, or resourcefulness in handling situations

an adroit leader

adroit maneuvers

adroitly adverb

adroitness noun

Did you know?

Adroit goes back to an Old French word meaning "handsome or elegant" as well as "skilled in combat." The adjective is still used to imply skillfulness, but usually not of the physical kind. Adroit most often describes cleverness that achieves one's purpose in spite of difficulties.

Synonyms

• artful
• bravura
• deft
• delicate
• dexterous
• dextrous
• expert
• masterful
• masterly
• practiced
• practised
• skillful
• virtuoso
• workmanlike

Choose the Right Synonym for adroit

clever, adroit, cunning, ingenious mean having or showing practical wit or skill in contriving.

clever stresses physical or mental quickness, deftness, or great aptitude.

a person clever with horses

adroit often implies a skillful use of expedients to achieve one's purpose in spite of difficulties.

an adroit negotiator

cunning implies great skill in constructing or creating.

a filmmaker cunning in his use of special effects

ingenious suggests the power of inventing or discovering a new way of accomplishing something.

an ingenious software engineer

dexterous, adroit, deft mean ready and skilled in physical movement.

dexterous implies expertness with consequent facility and quickness in manipulation.

unrolled the sleeping bag with a dexterous toss

adroit implies dexterity but usually also stresses resourcefulness or artfulness or inventiveness.

the magician's adroit response to the failure of her prop won applause

deft emphasizes lightness, neatness, and sureness of touch or handling.

a surgeon's deft manipulation of the scalpel

Examples of adroit in a Sentence

Rumor has always played a role in politics, but rarely have the backstage operatives been so adroit, and so cynical, in their use of vitriol. —Walter Shapiro, Time, 10 July 1989

He was adroit with money and was blessed with the extraordinary Spanish gift of prolific, and even inchoate, invention. —V. S. Pritchett, "Goya … ," 1975, in A Man of Letters,  1985

Family medicine … is constructed around the unquantifiable idea that a doctor who treats your grandmother, your father, your niece, and your daughter will be more adroit in treating you. —John McPhee, Table of Contents, 1984

She is adroit at handling problems.

with an adroit flick of the wrist, flipped the omelet into the air and landed it squarely back in the pan

Recent Examples on the Web

SpaceX is the implied template: Musk will advocate for privatizing the government, outsourcing the affairs of state to nimble entrepreneurs and adroit technologists. —Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 19 Oct. 2024

Naturally, Moore is formidable, acing an English accent and exhibiting an adroit sense of comic timing. —Alison Herman, Variety, 5 Apr. 2024

The adroit reshufflings of narrative and perspective in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ and ‘Poor Things’? —Michael Ordoña, Los Angeles Times, 18 Nov. 2023

The fashion house is known for its adroit use of off-kilter patterns, which, in the skilled hands of Risso, convey a cerebral, never-twee aesthetic that is no less reflected in this new line. —Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 25 Aug. 2023

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, going back to Old French, "handsome, elegant, skilled (in combat)," from a-, prefix, perhaps with intensive value (going back to Latin ad- ad-) + droit "straight, direct, true, regular," going back to Latin directus "straight, direct" — more at dress entry 1

First Known Use

1652, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

adroit

adjective

ə-ˈdrȯit 

: having or showing great skill or cleverness

an adroit leader

the candidate's adroit use of social media

adroitly adverb

adroitness noun