tact

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tact

sensitive perception of what is appropriate in dealing with others: The director has a lot of tact.

Not to be confused with:

tacked – changed a boat’s heading relative to the wind; fastened with a short nail with a sharp point and large head; sewed together loosely with large stitches: tacked the hem of the dress

tact

(tăkt)

Acute sensitivity to what is proper and appropriate in dealing with others, including the ability to speak or act without offending.

[French, from Old French, sense of touch, from Latin tāctus, from past participle of tangere, to touch; see tag- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

tact

(tækt)

1. a sense of what is fitting and considerate in dealing with others, so as to avoid giving offence or to win good will; discretion

2. skill or judgment in handling difficult or delicate situations; diplomacy

[C17: from Latin tactus a touching, from tangere to touch]

ˈtactful adj

ˈtactfully adv

ˈtactfulness n

ˈtactless adj

ˈtactlessly adv

ˈtactlessness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

tact

(tækt)

n.

1. a keen sense of what to say or do to avoid giving offense; skill in dealing with difficult situations; diplomacy.

2. a keen sense of what is appropriate or tasteful.

[1150–1200; < Latin tāctus sense of touch <tag-, variant s. of tangere to touch]

tact

, taction - Tact first referred to the sense of touch, from Latin tactus, "touch, sense of touch"; taction is the action of touching.

Tact

tact

noun diplomacy, understanding, consideration, sensitivity, delicacy, skill, judgment, perception, discretion, finesse, thoughtfulness, savoir-faire, adroitness Her tact and intuition never failed.
indiscretion, insensitivity, lack of consideration, awkwardness, clumsiness, heavy-handedness, tactlessness, gaucherie, lack of discretion

Proverbs
"Least said, soonest mended"

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

tact

noun

The ability to say and do the right thing at the right time:

address, diplomacy, savoir-faire, tactfulness.

Translations

لَبَاقَةلَباقَه، كِياسَه

takt

tahdikkuus

takt

háttvísi

tatto

機転

재치

netaktiškainetaktiškumastaktiškai

takta izjūtatakts

obzirnost

taktfullhet

การมีไหวพริบหรือปฏิภาณดี

incelik diplomasi

sự tế nhị

圆滑得体机智

tact

[tækt] N → tacto m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

tact

[ˈtækt] n → tact m
to have the tact to do sth → avoir le tact de faire qch

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

tact

n no pl → Takt m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

tact

[tækt] n → tatto

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

tact

(tӕkt) noun

care and skill in one's behaviour to people, in order to avoid hurting or offending them. He showed tact in dealing with difficult customers.

ˈtactful adjective

showing tact. a tactful person; tactful behaviour.

ˈtactfully adverb

ˈtactfulness noun

tactless adjective

without tact. a tactless person/remark.

ˈtactlessly adverb

ˈtactlessness noun

tact

→ لَبَاقَة takt takt Takt αβρότητα tacto tahdikkuus tact takt tatto 機転 재치 tact taktfullhet takt tato такт taktfullhet การมีไหวพริบหรือปฏิภาณดี incelik sự tế nhị 机智

tact

n. tacto; diplomacia, discreción.

References in classic literature ?

There the want of tact and discretion on the part of the husbands produces at times indescribable disasters.

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But poor father has no tact, and this defect is especially marked since he has been in Europe.

View in context

If he could have once placed me in a ridiculous or mortifying position, he would have forgiven me much, but I was guarded by three faculties--Caution, Tact, Observation; and prowling and prying as was Edward's malignity, it could never baffle the lynx-eyes of these, my natural sentinels.

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The tact which I find here, the discretion, the rare courage, the wonderful power of memory, the accurate observation of character, the easy grace of style, the charming outbursts of womanly feeling, have all inexpressibly increased my admiration of this sublime creature, of this magnificent Marian.

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But no reader of "An Unsocial Socialist " needs to be told how, by the exercise of a certain considerate tact (which on the outside, perhaps, seems the opposite of tact), I have contrived to maintain genial terms with men and women of all classes, even those whose opinions and political conduct seemed to me most dangerous.

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He had not the tact, or the art, to effect such a purpose by skilfully drawing out my sentiments or ideas through the real or apparent statement of his own, or leading the conversation by imperceptible gradations to such topics as he wished to advert to: but such gentle abruptness, and such single-minded straightforwardness, could not possibly offend me.

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But remembering Edna's whimsical turn of mind of late, and foreseeing that she had immediately acted upon her impetuous determination, he grasped the situation with his usual promptness and handled it with his well-known business tact and cleverness.

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Thus by a judicious exercise of tact and asperity we re-established the atmospheric equilibrium of the room long before I left them a little before midnight, now tenderly reconciled, to walk down to the harbour and hail the Tremolino by the usual soft whistle from the edge of the quay.

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Strickland used her advantage with tact. You felt that you obliged her by accepting her sympathy.

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But to arrange this without catastrophe would need skill and tact; interference from any outside source would be fatal, and Francis meant to interfere

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Although not remarkable for the possession of delicate tact, Mrs.

View in context

To speak of it would be to attach importance to what has no importance." She remembered how she had told her husband of what was almost a declaration made her at Petersburg by a young man, one of her husband's subordinates, and how Alexey Alexandrovitch had answered that every woman living in the world was exposed to such incidents, but that he had the fullest confidence in her tact, and could never lower her and himself by jealousy.