Definition of NIMBLE

Examples of nimble in a Sentence

possessing a nimble wit, he always has a cutting comeback for any intended insult thrown his way
her nimble fingers make knitting look so easy

Recent Examples of nimble from the Web

While Abel Tesfaye leads things off with his signature vaporous vocals, French grounds the track with nimble rap.

— raisa bruner, Time, "5 Songs You Need to Listen to This Week," 14 July 2017
Generous ground clearance and nimble handling make this bike a hoot on the right roads.

— joe michaud, sandiegouniontribune.com, "2017 Honda CMX500 Rebel: Fresh styling sheds the ‘first bike’ image," 13 July 2017
Their nimble way with this wordy text is a thing to behold and illustrates neatly why this play was such an influence on Oscar Wilde.

— steve heisler, Chicago Reader, "Arts / Do This ‘Amy Krouse Rosenthal: A Beauty Salon’ at Carrie Secrist Gallery, Kyle Mooney at Thalia Hall, and more things to do this week in Chicago," 10 July 2017
Two-strokes are nimble, fast, and fun—but also dirty and inefficient.

— nick goddard, Popular Mechanics, "KTM's New Fuel-Injected Two-Strokes Could Save the Endangered Engine," 27 June 2017
But questions remain about whether such an intervention would keep us mentally nimble, says Mr. Stickgold, who is also director of the Center for Sleep and Cognition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

— bonnie miller rubin, WSJ, "A Possible Path to Better Sleep—and a Better Memory," 25 June 2017
The cast is as nimble and as profoundly theatrical as a show could hope for; the actors shift from role to role, language to language, accent to accent, old to young and back again.

— toby zinman, Philly.com, "'Indecent': Inventive, courageous love letter to the art of theater," 18 June 2017
The job requires someone adept at navigating Texas’ brand of full-contact politics and a nimble approach through the partisan squabbles in the state Capitol.

— Washington Post, "Military hero McRaven having trouble as Texas chancellor," 18 June 2017
In an ideal world, drivers would be nimble and attentive and be able to keep an eye on several cars ahead of them, allowing the driver to react to various scenarios with a light tap on their brakes.

— NBC News, "If Elon Musk Can't Solve Our Traffic Woes, These Technologies Just Might," 7 June 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of nimble

Middle English nimel, from Old English numol holding much, from niman to take; akin to Old High German neman to take, Greek nemein to distribute, manage, nomos pasture, nomos usage, custom, law

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

nimble Synonyms

nimble