dexterity
Americannoun
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skill or adroitness in using the hands or body; agility.
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mental adroitness or skill; cleverness.
noun
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physical, esp manual, skill or nimbleness
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mental skill or adroitness: cleverness
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rare the characteristic of being right-handed
Other Word Forms
- nondexterity noun
Etymology
Origin of dexterity
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin dexteritās “readiness, skillfulness,” from dexter “skillful” + -itās -ity
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Watching him rejigger lines of code with astonishing dexterity, you feel, at long last, a rush of artistic and intellectual excitement, a sincere delight in the creation — and perfection — of something of lasting value.
From Los Angeles Times
If these villains had Van Norden’s verbal dexterity, their cynical mischief would be not just funnier but also more chilling.
From Los Angeles Times
For young children still developing motor skills and dexterity, learning how to write well by hand is an important skill to have before shifting to more hybrid models of writing or typing, Prunty said.
From Seattle Times
She certainly conjured up visions of Sue Bird with her dexterity in transition, the source of a Hawkeye surge that brought down the house in the third quarter.
From Seattle Times
Towers heats things up on “El Calentón,” a sparse track that begins as a reggaeton jam before building to a display of his lyrical dexterity.
From New York Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
