Tact

English

Noun

Tact (plural Tacts)

1. The sense of touch; feeling.
   • Robert Southey

     Did you suppose that I could not make myself sensible to tact as well as sight?

   • J. Le Conte

     Now, sight is a very refined tact.

2. (music) The stroke in beating time.
3. Sensitive mental touch; peculiar skill or faculty; nice perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances.
   • Thomas Babington Macaulay

     He had formed plans not inferior in grandeur and boldness to those of Richelieu, and had carried them into effect with a tact and wariness worthy of Mazarin.

   • Thomas Babington Macaulay

     A tact which surpassed the tact of her sex as much as the tact of her sex surpassed the tact of ours.

4. Careful consideration in dealing with others to avoid giving offense.

Derived terms

• tactful
• tactless

Adjectives for Tact

subtle; external; sympathetic; gracious; delicate; unerring; perfect; cheerful; diplomatic; exquisite; rare; pecuniary; admirable; female; genuine; discriminating; requisite; faultless; extraordinary; critical; consummate; customary; fine.

Verbs for Tact

apply—; bring—into play; cast—to the winds; discard—; dispense with—; employ —; enlist—; evince—; make away with—; practice—; require—; shelve—; throw aside —; throw—overboard; utilize—; —brings to bear; —conduces; —serves; —subserves.

Thesaurus

ability, accommodatingness, acumen, acuteness, address, adeptness, adroitness, agreeableness, airmanship, allergy, amenity, anaphylaxis, appreciation, appreciation of differences, appreciativeness, artfulness, artisanship, artistic judgment, artistry, attentiveness, bravura, brilliance, capability, capacity, care, carefulness, civility, cleverness, comity, command, competence, complaisance, concern, connoisseurship, considerateness, consideration, control, coordination, courteousness, courtesy, craft, craftsmanship, critical niceness, criticalness, cunning, deference, deftness, delicacy, dexterity, dexterousness, dextrousness, diplomacy, discernment, discretion, discriminating taste, discriminatingness, discrimination, discriminativeness, efficiency, empathy, expertise, exquisiteness, facility, fastidiousness, feel, feeling, fine palate, fineness, finesse, gallantry, grace, gracefulness, graciousness, grip, handiness, head, heedfulness, helpfulness, horsemanship, hyperesthesia, hyperpathia, hypersensitivity, identification, indulgence, ingeniousness, ingenuity, irritability, judgement, judiciousness, know-how, leniency, making distinctions, marksmanship, mastership, mastery, mindfulness, nervousness, niceness of distinction, nicety, obligingness, oversensibility, oversensitiveness, overtenderness, palate, passibility, perception, perceptiveness, perceptivity, photophobia, poise, policy, politeness, politesse, politicness, practical ability, presence, prickliness, proficiency, prowess, prudence, quickness, readiness, refined discrimination, refined palate, refinement, regard, regardfulness, repose, resource, resourcefulness, respect, respectfulness, responsiveness, savoir faire, savoir-faire, savvy, seamanship, selectiveness, sense, sensibility, sensitiveness, sensitivity, sensitization, skill, skillfulness, smoothness, solicitousness, solicitude, soreness, style, suavity, subtlety, supersensitivity, sympathy, tactfulness, taste, technical brilliance, technical mastery, technical skill, technique, tenderness, tetchiness, thin skin, thought, thoughtfulness, ticklishness, timing, toleration, touchiness, understanding, urbanity, virtuosity, wit, wizardry, workmanship

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ækt

Translations

careful consideration in dealing with others to avoid giving offense

Czech: takt (cs) m. French: tact (fr) m. German: Takt (de) m.

Italian: tatto (it) Portuguese: tato (pt) m. Spanish: tacto (es) m.

The translations below need to be checked.

Translations to be checked

French: tact m.

External links

• Tact in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• Tact in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911