Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use deft in a sentence

12 example sentences · adjective

Deft means quick and neat in action; skillful. Example: “He assembled it in one fluid, deft motion.”

Examples of deft by meaning

adjectiveQuick and neat in action; skillful.

  • He assembled it in one fluid, deft motion.
  • Alvarez then got on the scoresheet after the hosts carved open the Huddersfield defence with some intricate passing before the Argentina forward's deft finish rolled into the net.2024 January 7, Gary Rose, “Manchester City 5-0 Huddersfield Town”, in BBC Sport

More sentences with deft

  • Her little hands were amazingly deft. One time we needed to retrieve a bobbin from behind the machine, and she was the one who managed to grab it!From the entry little hand
  • With his show-business background, Reagan was unusually deft at this type of verbal buck and wing.2010, Ralph Keyes, “Peacekeeper”, in Euphemania: Our Love Affair with Euphemisms, page 122. From the entry buck-and-wing
  • Who could miss this real-life king’s deft allusion to the importunities of the overweening pseudo-king in the White House?2026 May 2, Simon Tisdall, “The king went to Washington to save Britain’s bacon. He may also have shown the US how to save itself”, in The…. From the entry overweening
  • On this occasion it was Nolan's deft flick that fooled West Ham's sleepy defenders Danny Gabbidon and Tomkins.2011 January 5, Saj Chowdhury, “Newcastle 0 - 0 West Ham”, in BBC. From the entry flick
  • She took a bowl, drew up her skirt with her left hand, and rolled the weighted ball with a deft motion.2001, Paul Hemenway Altrocchi, Most Greatly Lived. From the entry mistress
  • It is filled with the odors of brine and seaweed and codlivers gathered into pails by deft fingers as the fish are cleaned.1942, Dorothy Duncan, Bluenose: A Portrait of Nova Scotia, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, pages 231–259; republished in Brian…. From the entry codliver
  • Like many horror movies, this one — the critically lauded, audience-dividing feature debut of Ari Aster — operates by means of a deft counterpoint of curiosity and dread.2018 June 15, A[nthony] O[liver] Scott, “About That ‘Hereditary’ Ending: Really?”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York…. From the entry aster
  • I have mentioned her deft hand with a stone — well, as soon as our backs were turned she buzzed a stone to clip Joe's ear.2013, Felix Gilman, The Rise of Ransom City. From the entry buzz
  • A deft gliding header from Djed Spence's cross gave Kane his 67th goal of the season, just before he could put his feet up for the rest of the game.2026 June 6, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 New Zealand”, in BBC. From the entry put one's feet up
  • Deft and comfy, if gnashy of engine, the Prizm looks like an inspired sketch that somehow made it into metal and ought to be viewed as a traveling sculpture exhibit.1992, Car and Driver - Volume 38, page 72. From the entry gnashy

Meaning of deft

  1. adjective Quick and neat in action; skillful.

Full definition of deft

Questions about deft in a sentence

How do you use deft in a sentence?
Deft is used as an adjective. For example: “He assembled it in one fluid, deft motion.”
What is a short sentence with deft?
“He assembled it in one fluid, deft motion.”
What does deft mean?
Deft means quick and neat in action; skillful.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: deft (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use deft in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/deft. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.