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Glite Dictionary
🛒 Convenient access 🛠️ Manual skill
handiness

handiness

4.3
Skill at using your hands to make or fix things
  • noun
  • /ˈhændinəs/
translation icon : destreza manual
  • He demonstrated great handiness when he quickly assembled the new furniture.

Examples

  • I had neither the heart nor the handiness to tackle the job on my own, so our observance was rather lacking.

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  • With her handiness in crafting, she was able to create beautiful decorations for the party.

  • His handiness with tools made it easy for him to fix the broken chair.

Synonyms

dexterity
vshandiness
16 5.3

Skill and ease when using the hands or body

restricts focus to hand skill rather than body movement
manual dexterity
vshandiness
1 4.9

Skill in using the hands to do small, careful movements

is the same meaning but expressed with a different label

Antonyms

awkwardness
25 4.5

A feeling of embarrassment or discomfort in social situations

clumsiness
1 2.6

Lack of skill or care when handling things so mistakes happen

How Dexterous

dexterity
16 5.3
handiness
4.3
clumsiness
1 2.6

Surface Forms

handiness singular
handinesses plural

Morphology

handiness = handy (semi-transparent) = hand + y + ness

Morphologically derived from 'handy', but the sense 'manual dexterity' reflects a distinct sense of 'handy' (skillful) that learners may not infer from the common meaning 'convenient'.

Etymology

Handiness can also mean skill with the hands and it comes from hand and -y, like in handy and handyman, which show being 'good with your hands'. So this sense of handiness is about being able to use tools or work with your hands easily.