deft

deft
    adj 1: skillful in physical movements; especially of the hands;
           "a deft waiter"; "deft fingers massaged her face";
           "dexterous of hand and inventive of mind" [syn: {deft},
           {dexterous}, {dextrous}]
    

deft \deft\ (d[e^]ft), a. [OE. daft, deft, becoming, mild,
   gentle, stupid (cf. OE. daffe, deffe, fool, coward), AS.
   d[ae]ft (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]
    

56 Moby Thesaurus words for "deft":
      Daedalian, adept, adroit, agile, apt, artistic, authoritative,
      bravura, brilliant, brisk, clean, clever, coordinated, crack,
      crackerjack, cunning, cute, daedal, dexterous, dextrous,
      diplomatic, excellent, expert, fancy, fleet, good, goodish,
      graceful, handy, ingenious, magisterial, masterful, masterly, neat,
      neat-handed, nimble, no mean, politic, professional, proficient,
      prompt, quick, quite some, ready, resourceful, skillful, slick,
      some, statesmanlike, stylish, tactful, the compleat, the complete,
      virtuoso, well-done, workmanlike