Deft (?), a. [OE. daft, deft, becoming, mild, gentle, stupid (cf. OE. daffe, deffe, fool, coward), AS. daeft (in derivatives only) mild, gentle, fitting, seasonable; akin to dafen, gedafen, becoming, fit, Goth. gadaban to be fit. Cf. Daft, Daff, Dapper.]
Apt; fit; dexterous; clever; handy; spruce; neat. [Archaic or Poetic] "The deftest way." Shak.
"
Deftest feats."
Gay.
The limping god, do deft at his new ministry.
Dryden.
Let me be deft and debonair.
Byron.
© Webster 1913.