craft

1 an occupation requiring skillful use of the hands the craft of cabinetmaking was much admired in colonial times Synonyms of craft art, handcraft, handicraft, trade Words Related to craft 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 of craft bottom, boat, vessel, watercraftWords Related to craft 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 of craft artifice, cheating, cozenage, deceit, craftiness, crookedness, crookery, cunning, cunningness, deceitfulness, deception, deceptiveness, dishonesty, dissembling, dissimulation, double-dealing, dupery, duplicity, fakery, foxiness, fraud, guile, guilefulness, wilinessWords Related to craft 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 of craft candidness, candor, directness, frankness, openness, plainness, plainspokenness; honesty, probity; dependability, reliability, reliableness, solidity, trustability, trustiness, trustworthiness; decency, goodness, incorruptibility, integrity, righteousness, truthfulness, uprightness, virtuousnessAntonyms of craft 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 of craft artfulness, artifice, caginess (also cageyness), canniness, cunning, craftiness, cunningness, deviousness, foxiness, guile, guilefulness, slickness, slyness, sneakiness, subtleness, subtlety, wilinessWords Related to craft 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 of craft adeptness, adroitness, art, artfulness, artifice, artistry, cleverness, skill, cunning, deftness, masterfulness, skillfulnessWords Related to craft dexterity, ease, finesse, handiness; experience, expertise, expertness, know-how, proficiency; creativity, ingenuity, inventiveness, knowledge, learning; aptitude, bent, flair, gift, knack, talentNear Antonyms of craft amateurishness, awkwardness, clumsiness, crudeness, klutziness, rudeness; inability, inadequacy, inadequateness, incapability, incapacity, incompetence, ineffectiveness, ineffectuality, ineffectualness, inefficacy, inefficiencyAntonyms of craft artlessness, ineptitude, ineptness, maladroitness

to put (something) into proper and usually carefully worked out written form spent hours crafting the perfect letter of recommendation for her prize student Synonyms of craft cast, compose, draft, draw up, formulate, frame, prepareWords Related to craft fabricate, fashion, form, mold, sculpture, shape; couch, express, phrase, state, verbalize, word; author, indite, pen, write; conceive, concoct, devise; build, construct, make; assemble, compound, piece (together); redraft, reformulate, reframe