tactful

American  

[takt-fuhl] / ˈtækt fəl /

adjective

1. having or manifesting tact.

   a tactful person;

   a tactful reply.

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Related Words

See diplomatic.

Other Word Forms

• tactfully adverb
• tactfulness noun
• untactful adjective
• untactfully adverb

Etymology

Origin of tactful

First recorded in 1860–65; tact + -ful

Explanation

If you are tactful, you have a knack for saying the right thing at the right time. A tactful person is appropriate and sensitive, never rude or careless. Tactful means "full of tact." What's tact? It's the gift for saying the right thing because you understand what the situation calls for. So, if you are tactful, you wouldn't tell your friend that the food at her party was awful — you'd talk about the interesting conversation you had and the great music. But even when tactful people have to give criticism, they do it in such a way that the other person doesn't get offended.

Example Sentences

He has found a way to be both tactful and transgressive.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

If I’m misreading the situation and you do really like him and want to address this, there are tactful ways to do so.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 1, 2025

It plans to do this through networking, or linking physical quantum systems together, rather than piling more qubits onto a chip—a tactful approach, seeing as a higher number of qubits typically correlates to more errors.

From Barron's • Oct. 21, 2025

I want to say this in a very tactful way, but the risk of doing this kind of show is that there is a point, I believe, of diminishing returns when we talk about food.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 3, 2025

And Ruth had been at her best: encouraging, funny, tactful, wise.

From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

Related Words

• courteous
• discreet
• judicious
• perceptive
• polite
• prudent