1
as in virtuoso
accomplished with trained ability
a luthier whose deft craftsmanship is prized by violinists the world over
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in skillful
skillful with the hands
the deft jeweler quickly attached the diamond to its mount on the gold band
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of deft
Putin’s 26 years at the helm of Russia have – until recently – been marked by deft maneuvering, pragmatism, and outsized geopolitical heft.
—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
18 June 2026
Based on a game McCartney played as a child, the chant-along chorus is infectious on its own, but the rest of the song is indicative of a genius of melody whose touch remained deft 60 years into a career.
—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA Today,
18 June 2026
With a deft hand and remarkable visual memory, the young Church was a natural.
—
Susan Tallman,
The Atlantic,
13 June 2026
This is in no small part due, Rahma believes, to the deft editing that balances just on the edge of the platform, so to speak, to distill ten or fifteen minutes of conversation down into a reel or a short-length amount of video.
—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
12 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for deft
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
18 June 2026
Based on a game McCartney played as a child, the chant-along chorus is infectious on its own, but the rest of the song is indicative of a genius of melody whose touch remained deft 60 years into a career.
—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA Today,
18 June 2026
With a deft hand and remarkable visual memory, the young Church was a natural.
—
Susan Tallman,
The Atlantic,
13 June 2026
This is in no small part due, Rahma believes, to the deft editing that balances just on the edge of the platform, so to speak, to distill ten or fifteen minutes of conversation down into a reel or a short-length amount of video.
—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
12 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for deft
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deft
Adjective
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Thanks to more than 200 years of intense and virtuoso scientific work, what were once valid or at least plausible concerns and objections to vaccines have been overcome.
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A lot of the movie feels like a virtuoso chase sequence, people barreling down the road, guns blazing.
Adjective
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There’s likely to be grasping, resisting, skillful and futile efforts to swim and worry about what’s up ahead.
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One of the few calls of the night was from Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, ready to get his hands on the skillful point guard.
Adjective
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Come for the subtle performances and Agnès Godard’s masterful cinematography; stay for one of the greatest endings in movie history.
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Long-form, famously practiced by the masterful TJ Jagodowski and David Pasquesi (coming soon to the Goodman Theatre), features performers who can spin one line of dialogue, or merely a location, into a spontaneous hour.
Adjective
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The plebeians have plenty to be furious about, but their representatives, skilled at turning a crowd into a mob, seem hellbent on shoring up their own influence.
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It is stored in plain text in RAM and can theoretically be accessed by administrators, cloud operators, hypervisors, or highly skilled attackers through malware, insider threats, or side-channel attacks.
Adjective
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The chips beneath were noticeably thin, delicate but sturdy enough to retain their crunch.
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The war remains in a delicate ceasefire while both sides attempt to broker a permanent peace deal.
Adjective
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That doesn't enable cunning and unprincipled men to subvert the power of the people.
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For decades, humans mined antibiotic molecules from microbes and tweaked them to develop new drugs, staying ahead of evolution’s cunning countermeasures.
Adjective
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For full daily and monthly horoscopes as well as expert readings, see our full Horoscopes experience.
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And TickEncounter has a free tick identification program that allows users to submit a photograph of their tick and get an expert ID, usually within 24 hours.
Adjective
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Schultz brings digitalism back to its dexterous roots, paying homage to the hands that assembled the virtual realm.
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The platform combines autonomous navigation with dexterous manipulation, enabling it to transport materials, interact with workers, and perform precision tasks in industries such as semiconductor manufacturing, electronics assembly, and automotive production.
Cite this Entry
“Deft.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deft. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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