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nimble. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
nimble, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
nimble in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English nymyl, nemel, nemyll, nymell (“agile, quick, ready, able, capable”), merger of Old English nǣmel (“receptive, quick to grasp”) and Old English numol (“able to take, capable of holding”), both from niman (“to take”) + -el, -ol (associative suffix), corresponding to nim + -le. Compare German nehmen, Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (niman), Old Norse nema (“to take”). More at nim.
Pronunciation
Adjective
nimble (comparative nimbler, superlative nimblest)
- Adept at taking or grasping.
- nimble fingers
- Quick and light in movement or action.
He was too nimble for the assailant and easily escaped his grasp.
1988, The Economist, volume 306, numbers 7532-7539, page 13:Attempts to introduce versions of "market communism" — in China, Hungary or Yugoslavia — have shown how hard it is to make mainly state-owned economies as nimble as mainly private ones.
- Quickwitted and alert.
She has a nimble mind and can improvise in any situation.
2020 May 20, “Merriman praised over handling of TSC's 'virtual' transition”, in Rail, page 12:"It requires you to be flexible and nimble in your thinking and Huw has already demonstrated that," said Greenwood, [...]
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of "quick and light in movement or action"): sluggish
Derived terms
Translations
adept at taking or grasping
quick and light in movement or action
- Azerbaijani: cəld (az)
- Bulgarian: бърз (bg) (bǎrz), подвижен (bg) (podvižen)
- Catalan: àgil (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 敏捷 (zh) (mǐnjié)
- Czech: mrštný, hbitý
- Danish: flink, rask (da)
- Dutch: behendig (nl), wendbaar (nl), lichtvoetig (nl)
- Finnish: ketterä (fi), vikkelä (fi)
- French: agile (fr), fulgurant (fr), preste (fr), leste (fr)
- Galician: áxil (gl)
- German: schnell (de), gelenkig (de), behänd (de), flink (de), wendig (de), leichtfüssig (de), gewandt (de), geschickt (de)
- Greek: ευκίνητος (el) (efkínitos), σβέλτος (el) (svéltos)
- Ancient: εὐκίνητος (eukínētos), λαιψηρός (laipsērós), κοῦφος (koûphos)
- Hungarian: fürge (hu), hajlékony (hu), gyors (hu)
- Irish: éasca, luaineach, mear, lúfar
- Italian: agile (it), leggero (it), svelto (it)
- Latin: pernix, agilis
- Maori: tūkawikawi, kakama, kamakama
- Norman: leste
- Norwegian: kjapp, rask (no), flink (no)
- Persian: چابک (fa) (čâbok), چالاک (fa) (čâlâk), فرز (fa) (ferz), تیز (fa) (tiz) (informal)
- Polish: zręczny (pl), zwinny (pl)
- Portuguese: ágil (pt), ligeiro (pt)
- Romanian: ager (ro), vioi (ro), agil (ro)
- Russian: прово́рный (ru) (provórnyj), ло́вкий (ru) (lóvkij), шу́стрый (ru) (šústryj), вёрткий (ru) (vjórtkij), бы́стрый (ru) (býstryj)
- Sanskrit: लघु (sa) (laghu)
- Scots: leish
- Spanish: ágil (es)
- Swedish: kvick (sv), vig (sv), smidig (sv), snabb (sv), lätt (sv), ledig (sv), flink (sv), rask (sv)
- Thai: คล่อง (th) (klɔ̂ng)
- Turkish: atik (tr), çevik (tr), açıkgöz (tr), çabukluk (tr)
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quick-witted and alert
- Azerbaijani: zirək, çevik (az), diribaş, qıvraq (az)
- Bulgarian: находчив (bg) (nahodčiv), съобразителен (bg) (sǎobrazitelen)
- Catalan: àgil (ca), atent (ca)
- Czech: bystrý (cs), pohotový
- Dutch: alert (nl),gevat (nl),spits (nl)
- Finnish: nopeaälyinen (fi), valpas (fi)
- French: vif (fr)
- Galician: áxil (gl), aleuto
- German: geschickt (de)
- Greek: εύστροφος (el) (éfstrofos)
- Hungarian: okos (hu), ötletes (hu)
- Italian: intelligente (it), versatile (it), sveglio (it), pronto (it)
- Maori: naho, ngutu atamai (of conversation), atamai
- Norwegian: rask (no)
- Persian: زیرک (fa) (zirak)
- Portuguese: ágil (pt), esperto (pt)
- Romanian: ager (ro)
- Russian: сообрази́тельный (ru) (soobrazítelʹnyj), нахо́дчивый (ru) (naxódčivyj)
- Spanish: hábil (es), despierto (es)
- Swedish: kvick (sv), snabbtänkt (sv), livlig (sv), pigg (sv), vaken (sv)
- Thai: คล่อง (th) (klɔ̂ng)
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Verb
nimble (third-person singular simple present nimbles, present participle nimbling, simple past and past participle nimbled)
- (intransitive) To move nimbly.
2012, Caspar Henderson, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, page 72:Their teeth are regularly and assiduously cleaned by shrimp that nimble in and out of the moray's mouth like ballet dancers in the jaws of a mechanical stage dragon.
Anagrams