dexterity

1 mental skill or quickness the ambassador showed great dexterity in his handling of the touchy situation Synonyms adroitness, cleverness, finesse, sleight Related Words ability, aptitude, capability, capacity, faculty, knack, prowess, talent; competence, competency, efficiency, expertise, know-how, proficiency; ingeniousness, ingenuity, resourcefulness; savvy, sharpness, shrewdness; artfulness, artifice, caginess (also cageyness), canniness, craft, craftiness, cunning, cunningness, deviousness, foxiness, guile, slickness, slyness, sneakiness, subtleness, wiliness Near Antonyms inadequacy, incompetence, incompetency, ineptitude, ineptness; brainlessness, denseness, density, doltishness, dopiness, dullness (also dulness), dumbness, fatuity, foolishness, mindlessness, obtuseness, senselessness, simpleness, slowness, stupidity, stupidness, witlessness

2 ease and grace in physical activity the juggler needed lots of dexterity in order to keep all five balls in the air at the same time Synonyms agility, deftness, nimbleness, sleight, spryness Related Words coordination; flexibility, gracefulness, limberness, litheness, loose-jointedness, suppleness; handiness, sure-handedness; sure-footedness; adeptness, adroitness, finesse, prowess Near Antonyms disability, inability, incapability, incapacity; debilitation, disablement, impairment, incapacitation; unhandiness Antonyms awkwardness, clumsiness, gaucheness, gawkiness, gawkishness, gracelessness, ham-handedness, heavy-handedness, klutziness, ungainliness