adjective

• 1Having or showing skill with the hands; dexterous.

  ‘nimble-fingered guitar work’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Two nimble-fingered artists show visitors how these crafts are created.’
  • ‘He truly was a precocious master of the Hammond and in a light jazz setting such nimble-fingered wizardry shines out.’
  • ‘Muscled, dark-skinned men and nimble-fingered women churn the nearby factories, paper mills, shops and food markets.’
  • ‘To western ears, his freestyle guitar instrumentals blends traditional nimble-fingered Eastern African melodies with rapid chord changes often found in jazz.’
  • ‘Even the low-end factories need managers and engineers as well as nimble-fingered farm girls.’
  • ‘As a solo player and half of the Serpas Brothers, Roberto Serpas is a deft and nimble-fingered guitarist, who's equally adept on both acoustic and electric.’
  • ‘The smooth-jazz star has always earned his keep, and then some, through his nimble-fingered command of the saxophone.’
  • ‘The nimble-fingered girls in the packing room attracted the attention of the King and Queen.’
  • ‘Mairead stole the show with her flamboyance and nimble fingered fiddling.’
  • ‘Surprisingly he had rather large hands but was nimble-fingered which proved invaluable in his role as a butcher and musician.’

  Synonyms

  deft, adept, adroit, agile, nimble, neat, nimble-fingered, handy, able, capable, talented, skilful, skilled, proficient, accomplished, expert, experienced, practised, polished, efficient, effortless, slick, professional, masterful, masterly, impressive, finely judged, delicate

  1. 1.1informal Prone to steal.
     More example sentences

     • ‘a nimble-fingered pickpocket’
     • ‘After she was caught on camera as she made off with a 635,000 euro Cartier ring in Paris, police are desperately trying to establish the identity of the nimble-fingered woman.’
     • ‘You're going to be bumped and jostled many times while you wait in line - one of those bumps could be a nimble-fingered thief taking your cash.’
     • ‘In its very first issue it portrayed the threat posed by young, nimble-fingered thieves to honest, upstanding citizens enjoying a day's outing.’
     • ‘Their only means of subsistence appear to be in theft, and in this they are said to outrival even the nimble-fingered islanders of the South Seas.’
     • ‘You, my dear old friend, have been the greatest boon to my budding nimble-fingered career, and aye, my comrade since first we met.’
     Synonyms

     light-fingered, thievish, larcenous