Jill of all trades, mistress of none
Jill of all trades, mistress of none noun: a woman who has a competent grasp of many skills but who is not outstanding in any one.
Noun
Jill of all trades, mistress of none (plural Jills of all trades, mistresses of none)
- A woman who has a competent grasp of many skills but who is not outstanding in any one.
- If you tell him airily you can do a whole lot of things, he thinks immediately, “Jill of all trades, mistress of none.”1941, Margaretta Byers, “To You Job Hunters, Good Hunting!”, in Help Wanted—Female, New York, N.Y.: Julian Messner, Inc., part 4 (Parting Shots), page 325
- JILLS of all trades, mistresses of none, to be fully trained to promote sales of Gay Charm Jewellery in all City, Suburban and Country Areas.1978 February 1, “Positions Vacant: Women and Girls”, in The Sydney Morning Herald, number 43,721, page 33, column 5
- Synonyms:
- Jill of all trades, master of none
Examples of Jill of all trades, mistress of none in a sentence
- Are you sure you’ve never been a costume designer?” “Jill of all trades, mistress of none.[…]”1993, Janis Flores, chapter 32, in Siren Song, New York, N.Y.: Fawcett Gold Medal, →ISBN, page 483:
- We risk the syndrome of a Jill of all trades, mistress of none.1990, Ruth Ann Edwards, “Student Staff Training in the Smaller Library”, in Paul M. Gherman, Frances O. Painter, editors, Training Issues...
Synonyms of Jill of all trades, mistress of none
Forms of Jill of all trades, mistress of none
| plural | Jills of all trades, mistresses of none |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Jill of all trades and mistress of none |
| alternative form | Jill-of-all-trades and mistress of none |
| alternative form | Jill of all trades but mistress of none |
Questions about Jill of all trades, mistress of none
- What does Jill of all trades, mistress of none mean?
- Jill of all trades, mistress of none means a woman who has a competent grasp of many skills but who is not outstanding in any one.
- How do you use Jill of all trades, mistress of none in a sentence?
- Are you sure you’ve never been a costume designer?” “Jill of all trades, mistress of none.[…]”
- What part of speech is Jill of all trades, mistress of none?
- Jill of all trades, mistress of none is a noun.
- What is the plural of Jill of all trades, mistress of none?
- The plural of Jill of all trades, mistress of none is Jills of all trades, mistresses of none.
Words near Jill of all trades, mistress of none in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Jill of all trades, mistress of none (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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