Meanings
comparative more nimbly · superlative most nimbly
- In a nimble manner.
“Nimbly” quoth he, “do the fingers move / If a man be but used to his trade.”
1834 [1799], Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, “The Devil's Thoughts”, in The Poetical Works of S. T. Coleridge, volume II, London: W. Pickering, page 852 more examples
And now, in ſtead of mounting Barbed Steeds, / To fright the Soules of fearfull Aduersaries, / He capers nimbly in a Ladies Chamber, / To the laſcivious pleaſing of a Lute.
c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 173"The bee belongs to the one who caught it! If you catch it, it's your bee!" he said, nimbly jumping up and snatching a bee out of the air. "Yow! This one's mine!"
2000, Eiji Yoshikawa, translated by William Scott Wilson, Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan, →ISBN
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbin a nimble or agile manner; with quickness and lightness and ease
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Latin agiliter
- agiliterin a nimble manner
Polish zręcznie, zwinnie
- zręczniein a nimble manner
- zwinniein a nimble manner
Cite this entry
nimbly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nimbly
“nimbly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nimbly. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nimbly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nimbly.
Source: nimbly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.