agility

[ uh-jil-i-tee ]

noun

1. the power of moving quickly and easily; nimbleness:

   exercises demanding agility.

2. the ability to think and draw conclusions quickly; intellectual acuity.

Word History and Origins

Origin of agility¹

1375–1425; late Middle English agilite < Middle French < Latin agilitās. See agile, -ity

Example Sentences

A former state high jump champion and keen basketball player, he was dubbed the next Israel Folau - a star in league and union for Australia - because of the speed, agility and explosiveness he showed playing at full-back, centre and wing.

From BBC

An unhinged 78-year-old man who daily shows signs of losing mental agility.

From Los Angeles Times

One afternoon in late August — on the heels of his win at a $25,000 ITF tournament in Londrina, Brazil — he is laboring away under the marine layer, cycling through dumbbell exercises, agility drills and torturous rounds of medicine ball manipulation.

From Los Angeles Times

Jude, a glazier, who also works part-time in a bank, says he was on his way to work one morning, when he met a boy carrying two heavy jars of water which prompted him to comment on the boy’s physical agility.

From BBC

In a league where guys take time off for things like “fatigue,” you arrive six hours before game time to have an ankle worked on that, at best, allows you to play the game with pain and very limited flexibility and agility when most would be in a walking boot.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cleverness
• dexterity
• quickness
• sharpness
• swiftness