Words / D / General

dexterous

adjective/ˈdɛkstrəs/

B2CEFR level
53/100Rarity: uncommon
NeutralRegister

Skilful and adept in the use of the hands, or in handling a situation.

With a few dexterous turns of the awl he had bored the leather clean through.

Similar: deft, nimble, adroit

Origin: From Latin dexter 'right-hand, skilful'.

Topic: dexterity in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: dexterity