Dictionary

tactful en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈtæktfəl/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From tact + -ful.

Meanings

1. Possessing tact; able to deal with people in a sensitive manner.
   • I once found myself listening to a gay man who was saying wistfully, "I wish there was someplace you could go, maybe a club, where only masculine men would be allowed in." […] Ever tactful, I did not point out to him that if such a place existed, he probably would not be allowed into it. 1984 December 29, Duncan Mitchel, “The Cult of Gay Machismo”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 25, page 9:
   • His exhortations to his assistants to waste no time in getting on with the job, and to be tactful and courteous with those outside the railway service with whom they had to deal, are as apposite today as they were a century ago. 1958 August 14, “More Light on Brunel”, in Railway Magazine, page 516:

Forms

Antonyms

tactless

Deriveds

tactfully · tactfulness · untactful

Translations (28)

pl taktowny (possessing tact) · bg тактичен (possessing tact) · es (abundante) de tacto (possessing tact) · es tener tacto (mucho) (possessing tact) · hu diplomatikus (possessing tact) · ca discret (possessing tact) · fi hienotunteinen (possessing tact) · ru дипломати́чный (possessing tact) · es con gracia (possessing tact) · fa سنجیده (possessing tact) · fr diplomatique (possessing tact) · hu diszkrét (possessing tact) · vi khôn khéo (possessing tact) · af taktvol (possessing tact) · kk бипаз (possessing tact) · de taktvoll (possessing tact) · uk такто́вний (possessing tact) · fi tahdikas (possessing tact) · hu tapintatos (possessing tact) · mi matawhāiti (possessing tact) · fa با ظرافت (possessing tact) · nl tactvol (possessing tact) · ru такти́чный (possessing tact) · fr plein de tact (possessing tact) · mi whakahangahanga (possessing tact) · eo taktoplena (possessing tact) · cs taktní (possessing tact) · es de / con tacto (mucho) (possessing tact)