tact
Definitions
Skill in handling people or delicate situations without giving offense
机智，分寸，圆通
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedtact is the bare root — "touch" — used as a metaphor: a sense of touch for human situations. Just as fingertips read a surface without looking, tact reads what to say and what to leave unsaid. Someone with it handles delicate matters smoothly.
Root tact still carries 52 more wordsWhy It Means This
tact is the root tangere at its most figurative. The Latin word for "touch" was borrowed (via French) to name a fine social sensitivity — the ability to feel out a situation the way fingers feel out a surface. The image is precise: tact is delicate, light, perceptive contact, never clumsy grabbing.
Usage Guide
- Uncountable: tact has no plural — say "a lot of tact," not "tacts."
- Common phrases: with tact, lack of tact, show tact.
- Don't confuse with tactic: tact is social grace (one word, no -ic); a tactic is a maneuver. They look related but aren't.
Example Sentences
- 1.
It took real tact to turn down the offer without offending him.
- 2.
She handled the complaint with great tact and patience.
- 3.
Telling him so bluntly showed a complete lack of tact.