nimble

adjective

nim·​ble ˈnim-bəl 

nimbler ˈnim-b(ə-)lər  ; nimblest ˈnim-b(ə-)ləst 

1

: quick and light in motion : agile

nimble fingers

a nimble climber

2

a

: marked by quick, alert, clever conception (see conception sense 3), comprehension (see comprehension sense 1a), or resourcefulness

a nimble mind

nimble investors

b

: responsive, sensitive

a nimble listener

nothing like playacting to make you nimble in your feelings

—Mary Austin

nimbleness

ˈnim-bəl-nəs 

noun

nimbly

ˈnim-blē 

adverb

Synonyms of nimble

• intelligent
• quick
• clever
• fast
• smart
• sharp
• brilliant
• bright
• exceptional
• keen

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 on the Web

These two exceedingly nimble keyboardists teamed for a rousing take on Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski’s intensely spirited Variations on a Theme of Paganini. — George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Aug. 2026

But there is an opportunity to take principles other industries are really good at, such as getting close to the customer, being nimble and testing ideas before they are fully launched, and apply them to infrastructure. — Jen Fuller, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026

By refusing to dwell solely on the negatives and problems, Lopez said positive reappraisal can help people be more nimble, flexible and adaptive to challenges. — Jayson Jenks, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026

Success on major platforms will require partnerships between nimble commercial companies and traditional contractors with the capacity to manage large programs. — Doug Beck, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English nemel, nymyl, nemyll "agile, quick, capable, apt," probably going back to a by-form of later Old English numul, numol, næmel (once) "quick to grasp," from num-, *nǣm-, ablaut forms of niman (class IV strong verb) "to take, get hold of" + -ol, deverbal adjective suffix; niman going back to Germanic *neman- "to take" (whence also Old Frisian nima, nema "to take, appropriate, seize," Old Saxon niman "to take [off], get, accept," Middle Dutch nemen "to take, keep," Old High German neman "to take, seize," Old Icelandic nema "to take, get," Gothic niman "to take away, receive, accept"), perhaps going back to an Indo-European verbal base *nem- "apportion, distribute," whence also Greek némō, némein "to graze, pasture (animals), have management or control of, rule, direct, distribute, apportion, assign, give," (middle voice) némomai, némesthai "to feed on, occupy, inhabit, enjoy" and perhaps as a nominal derivative Latin numerus "numerical sum or symbol, quantity, aggregate" (< *nomeso-)

Note: The suffix of Old English numul, etc., is presumably the same as in swicol "deceitful" (compare swician "to deceive, cheat") and forewitol "knowing in advance" (compare witan "to know"). — The Germanic verb *neman- "to take" appears to mean the opposite of Greek némein, one of whose many senses is "to give," though the meaning usually taken to be primary is "to distribute, apportion." However, as illustrated by the multiple senses of Gothic niman, taking can also imply receiving and accepting. Hypothetically, the middle voice forms of Greek némein might be expected to mean "receive (what has been assigned or distributed)," though the attested meaning is "feed on, inhabit, enjoy," as indicated in the etymology. E. Benveniste pointed to the use of Gothic arbinumja "heir" (literally, "one receiving the inheritance," with -numja a derivative of niman) as a translation of Greek klēronómos, with the agentive element -nomos being a derivative, with o-grade ablaut, of némein (see Le vocabulaire des institutions indo-européennes, tome 1 [Paris, 1969], pp. 81-86). A variety of other formations have been taken as derivatives of Indo-European *nem- in addition to Latin numerus: Sanskrit námaḥ "reverence, respect, respectful greeting," Avestan nəmah- "reverence, obeisance, loan" (though these are at least as likely from *nem- "bow," as in Sanskrit námati "[s/he] bends, bows"); Greek némos "grove, thicket, pasture," Latin nemus "wood, forest, sacred grove," Old Irish nemed "sacred place, sanctuary" (< "what has been apportioned, sacrifice"?); Lithuanian núoma "rent, lease," Latvian noma (nuõma). An older hypothesis, recently revived, connects Germanic *neman- with Indo-European *h₁em- "take" (see redeem). G. Kroonen hypothesizes that *neman- grew out of a prefixed verb *gam-eman (in Indo-European terms *kom-h₁em-e-), altered by dissimilation to *gan-eman- and then reanalyzed as *ga-neman-, with *ga- taken as the perfective prefix ga- (Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic [Brill, 2013], following a suggestion by F. Kortlandt in "The Germanic Fifth Class of Strong Verbs," NOWELE, vol. 19, no. 1 [1992], p. 104). See discussion in R. Lühr et al., Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Band 6, pp. 878-81; the editors reject the Kortlandt-Kroonen hypothesis. For further derivatives of Greek némein see nomad, nomogram, nomothetic, -nomy.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for nimble

• cymbal
• gimbal
• symbol
• thimble

Kids Definition

nimble

adjective

nim·​ble ˈnim-bəl 

nimbler -b(ə-)lər  ; nimblest -b(ə-)ləst 

1

: quick and light in motion : agile

a nimble dancer

2

: quick in understanding and learning : clever

a nimble mind

nimbleness

-bəl-nəs 

noun

nimbly

-blē 

adverb