Word of the Day

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TUESDAY, APRIL 14

Habile

[HA-bəl]Part of speech: adjective

Origin: latin, 15th century

• Deft.
• Skillful.

Examples of Habile in a sentence

• She whipped up a tasty dinner with just a few habile steps.
• The habile seamstress was in high demand for wedding dress alterations.

About Habile

In Latin, "habilis" means something is easily handled. The French word "habile" means skillful, and we kept that definition in Middle English as well. Able is the more common word today, but habile remains a particularly skillful word.

Did you Know?

In today's parlance, you're more likely to use the word able rather than habile. The pronunciations are somewhat similar, and the meanings are close. Able implies you have at least the basic ability to do something. But to be habile is to be quite talented.