: having or showing skill, cleverness, or resourcefulness in handling situations
an adroit leader
adroit maneuvers
adroitly
adverb
adroitness
noun
Did you know?
The meaning and history of adroit is straightforward, so we’ll get right to the point. English speakers borrowed the word with its meaning from French in the mid 1600s, but the word’s ultimate source is the Latin adjective directus, meaning “straight, direct.” Adroit entered English as a means for describing physically skillful sorts, but it came to be applied to those known for their expertise, cleverness, and resourcefulness too. Today, adroit most often describes things people do especially well.
Synonyms of adroit
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
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
As adroit Mercury starts reversing through your contemplative 12th house, its retrograde invites you to press pause on the cosmic movie in favor of reviewing what’s already happened.
—Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 26 Feb. 2026
Girolmo knows exactly what the show needs, and there is a musically adroit and highly personable cast in the not-entirely-Irish persons of Emily Goldberg, the singer-musician Michael Mahler, the fine tenor Luke Nowakowski and Leah Morrow.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 10 Feb. 2026
As Powell — one of Capitol Hill’s most adroit navigators — made his rounds, Republicans on both sides of the Capitol panned the investigation.
—Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 13 Jan. 2026
The OptiPlex 7020 is one in its nearly endless line of business towers, and this one has a surprisingly adroit loadout in terms of components.
—PC Magazine, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for adroit
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Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 26 Feb. 2026
Girolmo knows exactly what the show needs, and there is a musically adroit and highly personable cast in the not-entirely-Irish persons of Emily Goldberg, the singer-musician Michael Mahler, the fine tenor Luke Nowakowski and Leah Morrow.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 10 Feb. 2026
As Powell — one of Capitol Hill’s most adroit navigators — made his rounds, Republicans on both sides of the Capitol panned the investigation.
—Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 13 Jan. 2026
The OptiPlex 7020 is one in its nearly endless line of business towers, and this one has a surprisingly adroit loadout in terms of components.
—PC Magazine, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for adroit
Cite this Entry
“Adroit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adroit. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
adroit
adjective
: having or showing great skill or cleverness
an adroit leader
the candidate's adroit use of social media
adroitly
adverb
adroitness
noun
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