adroit

adroit

adj \ə-ˈdrȯit\

Definition of ADROIT

: having or showing skill, cleverness, or resourcefulness in handling situations <an adroit leader> <adroit maneuvers>

— adroit·ly adverb

— adroit·ness noun

Examples of ADROIT

1. She is adroit at handling problems.
2. <with an adroit flick of the wrist, flipped the omelet into the air and landed it squarely back in the pan>
3. 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
4. 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, 198
5. 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

Origin of ADROIT

French, from Old French, from a- (from Latin ad-) + droit right, droit

First Known Use: 1652

Related to ADROIT

Synonyms: skillful, artful, bravura, deft, delicate, dexterous (also dextrous), expert, masterful, masterly, practiced (also practised), virtuoso, workmanlike

Antonyms: amateur, amateurish, artless, rude, unprofessional, unskillful

Related Words: facile, smooth; artistic, creative, fancy, ingenious, neat; adept, clever, cunning; able, adequate, capable, competent

Near Antonyms: awkward, clumsy, crude, klutzy; ineffective, ineffectual; incompetent, inept

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See Synonym Discussion at clever, dexterous

Rhymes with ADROIT

Detroit, exploit, introit