• home
  • vocab
  • tutoring
  • blog
  • help

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DEXTERITY

   See this issue on Make Your Point, Jr.

   Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.


explore the archives:

To be dexterous, or to have dexterity, usually means to work or think in a neat, clever, skillful way.

But the most literal meaning of "dexterous" is "right-handed."

To be left-handed, in French at least, is to be gauche--which also means "awkward, tactless, or crude." (Such a cruel way to label lefties!) Can you recall the fancy-looking noun version of gauche?

make your point with...

"DEXTERITY"

Dexterity is the ability to work very skillfully with your hands or body.

Dexterity is also the ability to think or act in a quick, clever, skillful way.

Pronunciation:
dex STAIR uh tee
(or, more casually, "dex STAIR uh dee")

Part of speech:
Uncountable noun.
(Like "milk," "rice," and "education," uncountable nouns are words for stuff that can’t be broken into exact units. You talk about "some milk," "the rice," and "a lot of education," but you don’t say "a milk," "three rices," or "many educations."
Likewise, talk about "this dexterity," "his dexterity," "such dexterity," "no dexterity," and so on, but don’t say "one dexterity," or "dexterities." Occasionally we might say "a dexterity," as in "He wrote with a dexterity that we all envied.")

Other forms:
The adjective is spelled both "dexterous" and "dextrous." (I prefer "dexterous.")
And the adverb is spelled both "dexterously" and "dextrously." (Again, I prefer the first.)
Alternate nouns are "dexterousness" and "dextrousness," but I recommend sticking to "dexterity."

How to use it:

Talk about someone's dexterity, or the dexterity of someone.

Certain tasks and situations require or demand dexterity.

You can use dexterity; show or display your dexterity; develop your dexterity; trust your dexterity; admire someone's dexterity; or do something with dexterity: speak with dexterity, play the harp with dexterity, deflect awkward comments with dexterity.

Sometimes we'll follow "dexterity" with "in," "at," or "with:" her dexterity in handling a sword, our dexterity in negotiation, his dexterity at argumentation, their dexterity with calculus.

Add an adjective, if you like: vocal dexterity, linguistic dexterity, robotic dexterity, remarkable dexterity. Occasionally, you might need to specify that you mean "physical dexterity" or "mental dexterity."

examples:

At three years old, Taylor is building dexterity with zippers and shoes; buttons still confound her.

After working in the photo lab for a few months, Kim had become as dexterous with refilling the heavy 8x10 photo paper magazines as she was with placating angry customers--especially the ones who took dark or blurry pictures and were looking for someone else to blame.

study it now:

Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "dexterity" means when you can explain it without saying "deftness" or "finesse."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "(In a certain workplace or situation), we need someone who can handle (some issue or problem) with dexterity."

Example: "In the front office, we need someone who can handle pushy solicitors with dexterity."

before you review:

Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first.

Our game this month is called "Cousins or Strangers?"

Consider two pairs of similar-looking words, and figure out which pair are truly related, like cousins, and which pair are unrelated, like strangers. "Related," of course, is a relative concept (ha ha). We're interested in closeness: "compute" and "computer" are sisters, or variations of the same word; "vision" and "video" are cousins, sharing the same Latin root; but "compute" and "video" are strangers.

From our previous issue:

Pair A: BOMB and BOMBAST. These are the strangers, both from Greek words. "Bomb" is from bombos, an onomatopoetic word meaning "a sound that's deep and hollow." But "bombast" (and "bombastic") come from bombyx, originally meaning "silk or silkworm" and later meaning "cotton." 

Pair B: POLICE and POLICY. These are the cousins, both based on the Greek polis, meaning "city or state."

Ready to check out two more pairs? Remember, one pair will be cousins; the other, strangers. Which is which?

Pair A: TERRIBLE and TERRIFIC

Pair B: GAS (FUEL) and GAS (THE STATE OF MATTER)

review today's word:

1. One opposite of DEXTERITY is

A. CLUMSINESS
B. POPULARITY
C. SIMPLICITY

2. I miss the way _____ as her dexterous hands sent it _____.

A. she would fumble with the beach ball .. rolling away from her across the nursery floor
B. "Tonight" by Elton John sounded .. floating from the piano
C. the doorbell sounded so eager .. chiming in triplicate 

Answers are below.

a final word:

To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com

Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes.

Answers to review questions:
1. A
2. B

Subscribe to "Make Your Point" for a daily vocabulary boost.

© Copyright 2017 | All rights reserved.