craft
craft
nounDefinition of CRAFT
1
an occupation requiring skillful use of the hands <the craft of cabinetmaking was much admired in colonial times>
2
a small buoyant structure for travel on water <borrowed a craft to get across the river>
Related Words catboat, ketch, sailboat, schooner, yacht; bateau, caïque, canoe, catamaran, coracle, curragh (or currach), dhow, dinghy, dink, dory, dugout, flatboat, garvey, gig, johnboat, kayak, outrigger, paddleboat, pinnace, piragua, pirogue, pontoon, pram, punt, raft, rowboat, rowing boat [chiefly British], sampan, scow, scull, shallop, shell, skiff, surfboat, umiak, wherry; cruiser, inboard, motorboat, outboard, powerboat; houseboat, riverboat; auxiliary, bumboat, cutter, jolly boat, launch, lifeboat, longboat, tender, yawl; barge, hoy, keel, keelboat, lighter, narrow boat [British]; towboat, tug, tugboat; ferry, ferryboat, gondola, taxi, water taxi; banker, coble, dragger, gillnetter, hooker, lugger, scalloper, seiner, shrimper, trawler, whaleboat, whaler, workboat; cockleshell, tub; airboat, air-cushion vehicle, hovercraft; hydrofoil, hydroplane; assault boat, PT boat, torpedo boat
3
the inclination or practice of misleading others through lies or trickery <never hesitated to resort to craft to get what she wanted in life>
Synonyms artifice, cheating, cozenage, craft, craftiness, crookedness, crookery, cunning, cunningness, deceitfulness, deception, deceptiveness, dishonesty, dissembling, dissimulation, double-dealing, dupery, duplicity, fakery, foxiness, fraud, guile, guilefulness, wiliness
Related Words equivocation, lying, mendacity, prevarication; chicane, chicanery, fraudulence, hanky-panky, jugglery, legerdemain, mountebankery, obliquity, skulduggery (or skullduggery), subterfuge, swindling, trickery, wile; falsehood, falsity, fib, untruth; hypocrisy, insincerity, sanctimoniousness, two-facedness; artfulness, caginess (also cageyness), deviousness, shrewdness; treacherousness, underhandedness, unscrupulousness; covertness, furtiveness, secrecy, shadiness, sneakiness, stealthiness; oiliness, shiftiness, slickness, slipperiness, slyness, smoothness
Near Antonyms candidness, candor, directness, frankness, openness, plainness, plainspokenness; honesty, probity; dependability, reliability, reliableness, solidity, trustability, trustiness, trustworthiness; decency, goodness, incorruptibility, integrity, righteousness, truthfulness, uprightness, virtuousness
4
skill in achieving one's ends through indirect, subtle, or underhanded means <celebrated in political circles for his craft, he's the legislator who knows how to get bills passed>
Synonyms artfulness, artifice, caginess (also cageyness), canniness, craft, craftiness, cunningness, deviousness, foxiness, guile, guilefulness, slickness, slyness, sneakiness, subtleness, subtlety, wiliness
Related Words calculation, care, design; savvy, sharpness, shrewdness; cleverness, ingeniousness, ingenuity, inventiveness; ease, facility, finesse; deceitfulness, duplicity, shiftiness, underhandedness
5
subtle or imaginative ability in inventing, devising, or executing something <a really ingenious household appliance that shows a lot of craft on the part of its inventors>
Synonyms adeptness, adroitness, art, artfulness, artifice, artistry, cleverness, craft, cunning, deftness, masterfulness, skillfulness
Related Words dexterity, ease, finesse, handiness; experience, expertise, expertness, know-how, proficiency; creativity, ingenuity, inventiveness, knowledge, learning; aptitude, bent, flair, gift, knack, talent
