nimbly

[ nim-blee ]

adverb

1. with quick, light, easy movement:

   Our daughter sits on the ground plucking dandelions, her long brown fingers nimbly weaving them into a chain.

2. in a way that shows quick thinking or understanding, as in making appropriate adjustments, devising or carrying out plans, etc.:

   Local governance is often flexible and community based, enabling municipalities to respond to evolving conditions more nimbly than larger and slower-moving state governments.

Other Words From

• un·nim·bly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of nimbly¹

nimb(le) ( def ) + -ly

Example Sentences

He believes that Vance has the edge because "he comes off as fluent on policy, and he can nimbly respond to attack."

From Salon

Burstein amply and nimbly illustrates the conversation with film clips, newsreel footage, photographs and interviews.

From Salon

It’s also a ripping, nimbly paced action series that knows its audience and knows how to exploit this fandom’s strengths and weak spots.

From Salon

The woman moved nimbly, tomato-red streak in her silver hair, body draped in shades of fuchsia and cherry as she pushed the gleaming metal frame of a walker.

From New York Times

She nimbly braids together the stories of Hortense Odlum of Bonwit, which moved locations but basically disappeared by 2000; Geraldine Stutz of Henri Bendel, shuttered since 2019; and Dorothy Shaver of Lord & Taylor, which after slow decline was delivered a definitive death blow by the pandemic.

From New York Times

Related Words

• gracefully