GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English
last match results
Found one definition
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deft (dĕft), a. [OE. daft, deft, becoming, mild, gentle, stupid (cf. OE. daffe, deffe, fool, coward), AS. dæft (in derivatives only) mild, gentle, fitting, seasonable; akin to dafen, gedafen, becoming, fit, Goth. gadaban to be fit. Cf. Daft, Daff, Dapper.]
1. Apt; fit; spruce; neat. [Archaic or Poetic] “The deftest way.” Shak. “Deftest feats.” Gay.
[1913 Webster]
Let me be deft and debonair. Byron.
[1913 Webster]
2. dexterous; clever; handy; as, “a deft feat of legerdemain”.
[PJC]
The limping god, so deft at his new ministry. Dryden.
[1913 Webster]