jack-of-all-trades

A form of jack of all trades — One competent in many endeavours, sometimes regarded as not excelling in any of them.

Meanings

jack-of-all-trades1

nounjack-of-all-trades (plural jacks-of-all-trades)

plural jacks-of-all-trades

  1. alternativeAlternative form of jack of all trades.

    A 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 52–53
    1 more example

    After leaving the service, he [Jack Schweibold] flew for Chicago Helicopter Airways and Butler Aviation as a jack-of-all-trades. “I flew the first traffic patrol for the Chicago freeways, defrosted tomato crops by keeping the wind blowing on them so the frost couldn’t form, flew dignitaries such as Eleanor Roosevelt, [Dwight D.] Eisenhower, [Richard] Nixon, [Gerald] Ford. I even delivered Santa Claus. One hundred and eighty Messrs. Claus, to be exact,” he says.

    1985 March 24, Moselle Schaffer, “Around Town: He Looks for Trouble […]”, in Star Magazine (The Indianapolis Star), Indianapolis, Ind., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 16, column 2

Jack-of-all-trades2

nounJack-of-all-trades (plural Jacks-of-all-trades)

plural Jacks-of-all-trades

  1. alternativeAlternative form of jack of all trades.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
Cite this entry
APA

jack-of-all-trades. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jack-of-all-trades

MLA

“jack-of-all-trades.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jack-of-all-trades. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “jack-of-all-trades,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jack-of-all-trades.

Source: jack-of-all-trades on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.