Entry 2 senses Webster, 1913 deft /(dĕft)/ · IPA /dɛft/ 01 a. Apt; fit; spruce; neat. 1. Apt; fit; spruce; neat.[Archaic or Poetic] “Let me be deft and debonair.” — Byron. 2. dexterous; clever; handy; as, a deft feat of legerdemain. “The limping god, so deft at his new ministry.” — Dryden.