craft

1 an occupation requiring skillful use of the hands the craft of cabinetmaking was much admired in colonial times Synonyms art, handcraft, handicraft, trade Related Words skill; calling, métier (also metier), occupation, profession, vocation

2 a small buoyant structure for travel on water borrowed a craft to get across the river Synonyms bottom, boat, vessel, watercraftRelated 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, deceit, craftiness, crookedness, crookery, cunning, cunningness, deceitfulness, deception, deceptiveness, dishonesty, dissembling, dissimulation, double-dealing, dupery, duplicity, fakery, foxiness, fraud, guile, guilefulness, wilinessRelated 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, smoothnessNear Antonyms candidness, candor, directness, frankness, openness, plainness, plainspokenness; honesty, probity; dependability, reliability, reliableness, solidity, trustability, trustiness, trustworthiness; decency, goodness, incorruptibility, integrity, righteousness, truthfulness, uprightness, virtuousnessAntonyms artlessness, forthrightness, good faith, guilelessness, ingenuousness, sincerity

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, cunning, craftiness, cunningness, deviousness, foxiness, guile, guilefulness, slickness, slyness, sneakiness, subtleness, subtlety, wilinessRelated 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, skill, cunning, deftness, masterfulness, skillfulnessRelated Words dexterity, ease, finesse, handiness; experience, expertise, expertness, know-how, proficiency; creativity, ingenuity, inventiveness, knowledge, learning; aptitude, bent, flair, gift, knack, talentNear Antonyms amateurishness, awkwardness, clumsiness, crudeness, klutziness, rudeness; inability, inadequacy, inadequateness, incapability, incapacity, incompetence, ineffectiveness, ineffectuality, ineffectualness, inefficacy, inefficiencyAntonyms artlessness, ineptitude, ineptness, maladroitness