dexterity

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɛksˈtɛrɪti/

• Audio (UK)

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• Audio (US)

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Etymology

Latin dexteritas, from dexter (“on the right”)

Noun

dexterity (uncountable)

1. Skill in performing tasks, especially with the hands.
   • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 5, Lord Stranleigh Abroad^[1]:

     She removed Stranleigh’s coat with a dexterity that aroused his imagination. The elder woman returned with dressings and a sponge, which she placed on a chair.

   Playing computer games can improve your manual dexterity.

   She twirled the knife through her fingers with impressive dexterity.

Related terms

• dexterous
• ambidextrous

Translations

skill in performing tasks, especially with the hands

• Bulgarian: сръчност (bg) (srǎčnost) f, ловкост (bg) (lovkost) f
• Catalan: destresa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 機巧 (cmn), 机巧 (cmn) (jīqiǎo), 靈巧 (cmn), 灵巧 (cmn) (língqiǎo)

• Czech: zručnost (cs) f
• Dutch: handigheid (nl)
• Finnish: näppäryys (fi), taitavuus (fi)
• French: dextérité (fr) f
• German: Fingerfertigkeit (de) f, Geschicklichkeit (de) f

• Greek: επιδεξιότητα (el) (epidexiótita) f, δεξιοσύνη (el) (dexiosýni) f, επιτηδειότητα (el) (epitideiótita) f, μαστοριά (el) (mastoriá) f
• Hebrew: זריזות (he) f, גמישות (he) f, מיומנות (he) f, קלות תנועה
• Hungarian: kézügyesség (hu), ügyesség (hu)
• Japanese: 器用さ (ja) (きようさ, kiyōsa)
• Macedonian: спретност (mk) (sprétnost) f, умешност (mk) (úmešnost) f
• Polish: zręczność (pl) f, zwinność (pl) f
• Romanian: dexteritate (ro) f, îndemânare (ro) f, iscusință (ro) f, dibăcie (ro) f
• Russian: ловкость (ru) (lóvkostʹ) f, сноровка (ru) (snoróvka) f
• Spanish: destreza (es) f
• Swedish: skicklighet (sv) c