Link Centre Dictionary

adroit

ad·roit

US/əˈdɹɔɪt/ uncommon

adjective

1.

skillful (or showing skill) in adapting means to ends

  • “cool prudence and sensitive selfishness along with quick perception of what is possible--these distinguish an adroit politician”
  • “came up with a clever story”
  • “an ingenious press agent”
  • “an ingenious scheme”
Similar
2.

quick or skillful or adept in action or thought

  • “an exceptionally adroit pianist”
  • “an adroit technician”
  • “his adroit replies to hecklers won him many followers”
  • “an adroit negotiator”

Origin

Borrowed from French adroit, from French à (“on the; to”) (from Old French a (“to; towards”), from Latin ad (“to; towards”), from Proto-Indo-European *ád (“at; near”)) + French droit (“right”) (from Old French droit, dreit, from Late Latin drictus, syncopated form of Latin dīrēctus (“laid straight; direct, straight; level; upright”), perfective passive participle of dīrigō (“to lay straight”), from dis- (“apart, in two”) (from Proto-Indo-European *dwís (“twice; in two”)) + regō (“to govern, rule; to guide, steer”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃réǵeti (“to be straightening, setting upright”))).

Related words

Word family

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.