skill

/skɪl/UK[skɪɫ]

skill noun: a capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate.

Noun

skill (countable and uncountable, plural skills)

A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate.
- Where did you pick up that skill?
- With great skill, she navigated through the tricky passage.
Synonyms:

ability
(artificial intelligence) A reusable configuration (prompt) that defines how an AI agent performs a specific task.
(obsolete) Discrimination; judgment; propriety; reason; cause.
- Him so I sought, and so at last I fownd
  Where him that witch had thralled to her will,
  In chaines of lust and lewde desyres ybownd
  And so transformed from his former skill,
  That me he knew not, nether his owne ill;1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, , stanzas 1-5, page 54
- Methinks I should know you, and know this man;
  Yet I am doubtful; for I am mainly ignorant
  What place this is; and all the skill I have
  Remembers not these garments; nor I know not
  Where I did lodge last night. […]c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
(obsolete) Knowledge; understanding.
- And Howell Dha shall goodly well indew
  The salvage minds with skill of just and trew;1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, , stanzas 4-5, page 45
- […] This desert soil
  Wants not her hidden lustre, gems and gold;
  Nor want we skill or art from whence to raise
  Magnificence […]1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
(obsolete) Display of art; exercise of ability; contrivance; address.
- Richard was well ſtored with men, the bones; and quickly got money, the ſinews of warre; by a thousand Princely ſkills gathering ſo much coin as if he meant not to return, becauſe looking back would unbowe his reſolution.1639, Thomas Fuller, “Richard of England and Philip of France Set Forward to the Holy Land; the Danger of the Interviews of Princes”, in The Historie of the Holy Warre, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […]...

Adjective

skill (comparative skiller, superlative skillest)

(UK, slang) Great, excellent.
- Well, unfortunately for you, my dearest Waggipoos, I'm much more skill than you!1987 June, Teresa Maughan, “Letters”, in Your Sinclair, number 18
- This game is skill. Remember that because it's going to sound really complicated.1991, Wreckers (video game review in Crash issue 88, May 1991)

Verb

skill (third-person singular simple present skills, present participle skilling, simple past and past participle skilled)

(transitive) To set apart; separate.

Synonyms:

split
(dialectal, transitive) To discern; have knowledge or understanding; to know how (to).
- I cannot skill of these Thy ways […]1633, George Herbert, “Justice”, in The Temple
(Northern England, Scotland, dialectal, rare, transitive) To know; to understand.
- As for the virginals I have none here that skill of them, except the young lord.1613, Breadalbane Letters, Documents
- 17th century, Isaac Barrow, “On Industry in Our Particular Calling as Scholars,”
  […] to skill the arts of expressing our mind and imparting our conceptions with advantage, so as to instruct or persuade others […]
(intransitive) To have knowledge or comprehension; discern.
(intransitive) To have personal or practical knowledge; be versed or practised; be expert or dextrous.
(archaic, intransitive) To make a difference; signify; matter.
- So then the whole scripture of God, being true, whence soever this be delivered and gathered, it skilleth not […]1592, Richard Turnbull, An Exposition upon the Canonicall Epistle of Saint Jude, London: John Windet, Sermon 5, p. 67
- […] I should have given’t you to-day morning, but as a madman’s epistles are no gospels, so it skills not much when they are delivered.c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
To spend acquired points in exchange for skills.

skill meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

skill in Hindi

capacity to do something well: कुशलता kuśaltā, कौशल kauśal, निपुणता nipuṇtā, महारत mahārat

skill in Tamil

capacity to do something well: திறன் tiṟaṉ

skill in Marathi

capacity to do something well: कौशल्य kauśalya

skill in Urdu

skill, expertness, proficiency, excellency: مہارت mahārat

More languagesFewer languages

skill in Bengali: মুনশিয়ানা munśiẏana, কারিগরি karigri, কায়দা kaẏoda, দক্ষতা dokkhota
skill in Telugu: నేర్పు nērpu, నిపుణత nipuṇata
skill in Malayalam: കഴിവ് kaḻivŭ
skill in Kannada: ಕಲಿಕೆ, ಚೆಚ್ಚರಿಕೆ, ಚಳಕ, ಕೈಚಳಕ
skill in Punjabi: ਕੌਸ਼ਲ kauśal, ਮਹਾਰਤ mahārat, جگت jugat, ਨਿਪੁੰਨਤਾ nipunntā
skill in Sanskrit: चातुर्य cāturya, कला kalā, पाटव pāṭava, विज्ञान vijñā́na
skill in Nepali: प्रविधि pravidhi
skill in Arabic: مَهَارَة mahāra
skill in Malay: kemahiran, skil
skill in Indonesian: kemampuan, keahlian
skill in Persian: مهارت mahârat, اروین arvin

Examples of skill in a sentence

Doing that coaching course not only taught me useful skills on the field, but also some important life skills.
I have heard the French-man hath good skill in his rapier.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […]...
Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], “The Old Punt: A Curious ‘Turnpike’”, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 20:
“I kenna whatna man ye are,” he says, “but ye have the skill of lassies' hearts.1902, John Buchan, “The Outgoing of the Tide”, in The Watcher by the Threshold, and other tales, Edinburgh; London: W. Blackwood & Sons...

All 40 example sentences with skill

Synonyms of skill

13 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of skill

Forms of skill

Noun
plural	skills
alternative form (obsolete)	skil
Adjective
comparative	skiller
superlative	skillest
Verb
third-person singular present	skills
present participle	skilling
past participle	skilled
past	skilled

Past tense of skill: skilled

Plural of skill: skills

Origin of skill

From Middle English skill, skille (also schil, schile), from Old Norse skil (“a distinction, discernment, knowledge”), from Proto-Germanic *skilją (“separation, limit”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to split, cut”). Cognate with Danish skel (“a separation, boundary, divide”), Swedish skäl (“reason”), Dutch verschil (“difference”) and schillen (“to separate the outer layer (schil) from the product”, verb).

From Middle English skilen (also schillen), partly from Old English scilian (“to separate, part, divide off”); and partly from Old Norse skilja (“to divide, separate”); both from Proto-Germanic *skilōną, *skiljaną (“to divide, limit”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to split, cut”). Cognate with Danish skille (“to separate, discard”), Swedish skilja (“to distinguish, differentiate, part”), Icelandic skilja (“to understand”), Low German schelen (“to make a difference; to be squint-eyed”), Dutch schelen (“to make a difference”).

Phrases with skill

5 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with skill

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about skill

What does skill mean?: Skill means a capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate.
What is skill in Hindi?: Skill in Hindi is कुशलता (kuśaltā), कौशल (kauśal), निपुणता (nipuṇtā). See Skill meaning in Hindi.
How do you use skill in a sentence?: Doing that coaching course not only taught me useful skills on the field, but also some important life skills.
What part of speech is skill?: Skill can be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
How do you pronounce skill?: Skill is pronounced /skɪl/.
What is the plural of skill?: The plural of skill is skills.

Words near skill in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-skill.ogg.

Cite this entry: “skill.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/skill. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.