Choose the Right Synonym for adroit

clever, adroit, cunning, ingenious mean having or showing practical wit or skill in contriving. clever stresses physical or mental quickness, deftness, or great aptitude. a person clever with horses adroit often implies a skillful use of expedients to achieve one's purpose in spite of difficulties. an adroit negotiator cunning implies great skill in constructing or creating. a filmmaker cunning in his use of special effects ingenious suggests the power of inventing or discovering a new way of accomplishing something. an ingenious software engineer

dexterous, adroit, deft mean ready and skilled in physical movement. dexterous implies expertness with consequent facility and quickness in manipulation. unrolled the sleeping bag with a dexterous toss adroit implies dexterity but usually also stresses resourcefulness or artfulness or inventiveness. the magician's adroit response to the failure of her prop won applause deft emphasizes lightness, neatness, and sureness of touch or handling. a surgeon's deft manipulation of the scalpel

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

Recent Examples on the Web Silver’s been adroit at managing these fickle streams of funding. — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 12 May 2021 Nothing if not adroit, the longtime rockers of Weezer channeled their inner metalheads for their 15th studio album. — Jennifer Mcclellan, USA TODAY, 7 May 2021 The production is directed by Pascale Florestal, whose adroit touches include the incorporation of footage of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the US Capitol into the hectic flow of onstage events. — BostonGlobe.com, 1 May 2021 Online, some commenters praised Tencent for its adroit politicking. — New York Times, 29 Apr. 2021 The style favors an adroit mixture of photorealistic landscapes and backdrops, contrasted with the customary doe-eyed, vaguely frictionless human faces. — Michael Phillips, chicagotribune.com, 5 Mar. 2021 Her camouflaging tactics are so adroit that the film’s denouement is both shocking and, somehow, deflating. — Washington Post, 31 Dec. 2020 The writer-director John Patrick Shanley is the dramatist and screenwriter behind some wonderful and adroit and eccentric things. — Michael Phillips, chicagotribune.com, 9 Dec. 2020 Leigh's governess story is adroit in its handling of power dynamics, undoing any issues of consent or power as skillfully as her duke unbuttons a gown. — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 4 Dec. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'adroit.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for adroit

borrowed from French, going back to Old French, "handsome, elegant, skilled (in combat)," from a-, prefix, perhaps with intensive value (going back to Latin ad- ad-) + droit "straight, direct, true, regular," going back to Latin directus "straight, direct" — more at dress entry 1