Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

Thesaurus

knack

noun

Synonyms and Antonyms of knack

1 a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end

  • tried every knack I knew to get him to spill the beans
Synonyms of knack

artifice, device, dodge, fetch, flimflam, gambit, gimmick, jig, juggle, play, ploy, ruse, scheme, shenanigan, sleight, stratagem, trick, wile
Words Related to knack

bluff, end run, feint

cheating, chicanery, cozenage, craft, crookery, cunning, deception, dupery, duplicity, fakery, jugglery, legerdemain, skulduggery (or skullduggery), subterfuge, swindling, trickery

fraud, gaff, hoax, sham, swindle

blind, front, smoke screen
Phrases Synonymous with knack

sleight of hand

2 a special and usually inborn ability

  • a jazz musician with an incredible knack for improvisation
Synonyms of knack

aptitude, bent, endowment, faculty, flair, genius, gift, head, talent
Words Related to knack

affinity, bias, disposition, habitude, impulse, inclination, leaning, partiality, penchant, predilection, predisposition, proclivity, propensity, tendency, turn

ear, eye, mind, nose

feel, hang, instinct, touch, way

capability, competence, facility, proficiency, skill

capacity, potential, power

forte, specialism, speciality, specialty
Near Antonyms of knack

disability, handicap, inability, incapacity

shortcoming, weakness

Synonym Discussion of knack

gift, faculty, aptitude, bent, talent, genius, knack mean a special ability for doing something. gift often implies special favor by God or nature.
    • the gift of singing beautifully
faculty applies to an innate or less often acquired ability for a particular accomplishment or function.
    • a faculty for remembering names
aptitude implies a natural liking for some activity and the likelihood of success in it.
    • a mechanical aptitude
bent is nearly equal to aptitude but it stresses inclination perhaps more than specific ability.
    • a family with an artistic bent
talent suggests a marked natural ability that needs to be developed.
    • has enough talent to succeed
genius suggests impressive inborn creative ability.
    • has no great genius for poetry
knack implies a comparatively minor but special ability making for ease and dexterity in performance.
    • the knack of getting along

Learn More about knack

  1. See words that rhyme with knack Dictionary: Definition of knack Spanish Central: Translation of knack Nglish: Translation of knack for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of knack for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up knack? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show comments hide comments

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

secrete

to deposit or conceal in a hiding place

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. Spartan Red Cross Warns of Shelter Conditions

  2. hirsute RIP Burt Reynolds

  3. op-ed NYT Publishes Anonymous Piece

  4. collegiality Kavanaugh Mentions Word in Hearing

  5. mistrial Manafort Guilty on 8 Counts

SEE ALL

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games