Meanings
jack of all trades1
plural jacks of all trades · alternative Jack-at-all-trades · alternative Jack of all trades · alternative Jack of all Trades · alternative jack-of-all-trades · alternative Jack-of-all-trades
- idiomaticOne competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them.First known use early 17th c.
"I am my own engineer, and my own carpenter, and my own plumber, and my own gardener, and my own Jack of all Trades," said Wemmick, in acknowledging my compliments.
1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter VI, in Great Expectations […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 984 more examples
Novv for the moſt part your Porter is either ſome broken Cittizen, vvho hath plaid Iack of all trades, ſome Pander, Broker, or Hangman, that hath plaid the knaue vvith all men, and for the more certainty his Embleme is a red Beard, to vvhich Sacke hath made his Noſe couſin German.
1618, G[effray] M[ynshul], “Of Entertainment in Prison”, in Essayes and Characters of a Prison and Prisoners, London: […] [George Eld] for Mathew Walbancke, […], →OCLC, pages 23–24Printer, postmaster, almanac maker, essayist, chemist, orator, tinker, statesman, humorist, philosopher, parlor man, political economist, professor of housewifery, ambassador, projector, maxim-monger, herb-doctor, wit:—Jack of all trades, master of each and mastered by none—the type and genius of his land.
1854 July – 1855 March, Herman Melville, “Which has Something to Say about Dr. Franklin and the Latin Quarter”, in Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam & Co., […], published May 1855, →OCLC, page 81A fellow can always get some sort of a job—I was coming up here to see if they needed an extra clerk or a waiter, or chauffeur, or anything that meant a roof and something to eat—but I suppose they don't need a jack-of-all-trades.
1912, Mary Roberts Rinehart, “Wanted—an Owner”, in Where There’s a Will, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages 52–53In 1823, when this drawing was made, there was anesthesia for dentistry and in fact very little dentistry except the extraction of teeth. Much of this extraction was conducted by itinerant quacks or jacks-of-all-trades who did it as a side line to their business.
1929, Howard W[ilcox] Haggard, “‘In Sorrow Thou shalt Bring forth Children’”, in Devils, Drugs, and Doctors: The Story of the Science of Healing from Medicine-man to Doctor, New York, N.Y.; Evanston, Ill.: Harper & Row, →OCLC, part 2 (The Story of Anesthesia), image caption, page 100Synonyms: all-rounder, factotum, generalist, jack of all trades, master of none, sciolist · Antonyms: jackass of all trades
Jack of all trades2
plural Jacks of all trades
- Alternative letter-case form of jack of all trades.
Jack of all Trades3
plural Jacks of all Trades
- Alternative letter-case form of jack of all trades.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounOne competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna man skilled in various odd jobs and other small tasks
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From jack (“typical man, fellow”) + of + all + trades.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic جاك لجميع المهن
- جاك لجميع المهنone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Chinese Mandarin 萬事通 /万事通
- 萬事通 /万事通 (wànshìtōng)one competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Czech všeuměl
- všeumělone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Dutch duivel-doet-al, duizendpoot
- duivel-doet-alone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- duizendpootone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- manusje-van-allesone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Esperanto ĉiofaranto
- ĉiofarantoone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Finnish jokapaikanhöylä, tuhattaituri
- jokapaikanhöyläone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- tuhattaiturione competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
French homme à tout faire, touche-à-tout
- homme à tout faireone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- touche-à-toutone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
German Alleskönner, Hans Dampf in allen Gassen
- Alleskönnerone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- Hans Dampf in allen Gassenone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- Mädchen für allesone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- Tausendsassaone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Hungarian ezermester
- ezermesterone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Icelandic þúsundþjalasmiður
- þúsundþjalasmiðurone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Irish gobán
- gobánone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Italian tuttofare
- tuttofareone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Korean 만물박사, 팔방미인
- 만물박사 (manmulbaksa)one competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- 팔방미인 (palbangmiin)one competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Latin omnis Minervae homo
- omnis Minervae homoone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Latvian meistars visās lietās
- meistars visās lietāsone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Malay jaguh serbawan
- jaguh serbawanone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Norwegian Bokmål alt-mulig-mann, tusenkunstner
- alt-mulig-mannone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- tusenkunstnerone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Persian همهکاره و هیچکاره
- همهکاره و هیچکارهone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Polish omnibus
- omnibusone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Portuguese faz-tudo, homem dos sete ofícios
- faz-tudoone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- homem dos sete ofíciosone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- pau para toda a obraone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- pau para toda obraone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- pau pra toda obraone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Russian ма́стер на все ру́ки, автофотовеломототелерадиомонтёр
- ма́стер на все ру́ки (máster na vse rúki)one competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- автофотовеломототелерадиомонтёр (avtofotovelomototeleradiomontjór)one competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Spanish comodín, factótum
- comodínone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- factótumone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- generalistaone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- hombre del renacimientoone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- hombre orquestaone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- hombre renacentistaone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- manitasone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- todólogoone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- todólogaone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- polifacéticoone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- polímataone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Swedish mångsysslare, tusenkonstnär
- mångsysslareone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- tusenkonstnärone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Turkish elinden her iş gelir
- elinden her iş gelirone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Welsh Siôn bob swydd, Wil naw crefft
- Siôn bob swyddone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
- Wil naw crefftone competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with jack of all trades
All rhymes →Cite this entry
jack of all trades. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jack%20of%20all%20trades
“jack of all trades.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jack%20of%20all%20trades. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “jack of all trades,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jack%20of%20all%20trades.
Source: jack of all trades on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.