Tact Sense Noun Touch Situations Difficult Skill Poise

tact
\\ˈtakt\\ noun1. sensitive mental or aesthetic perception
    converted the novel into a play with remarkable skill and tact
2. a keen sense of what to do or say in order to maintain good relations with others or avoid offense
Synonyms.
  , , , mean skill and grace in dealing with others. implies delicate and considerate perception of what is appropriate
      questions showing a lack of tact
   stresses dexterity and grace in dealing with new and trying situations and may imply success in attaining one's ends
      brought it off with remarkable address
   may imply both tact and address but stresses self-possession and ease in meeting difficult situations
      answered the accusations with unruffled poise
   is likely to stress worldly experience and a sure awareness of what is proper or expedient
      the savoir faire of a seasoned traveler

tact
  1650s, "sense of touch or feeling" (with an isolated instance from c.1200), from L. tactus "touch, feeling, handling, sense of touch," from root of tangere "to touch" (see tangent). Meaning "sense of "discernment, diplomacy, etc." first recorded 1804, from a sense that developed in Fr. cognate tact.

tact
tact / tAkt / noun [U]
   the ability to deal with difficult or embarrassing situations carefully and without doing or saying anything that will annoy or upset other people
   (处事、言谈等的)老练,圆通,得体,乖巧
   SYN 

sensitivity

:
   Settling the dispute required great tact and diplomacy.
   解决这个争端需要十分老练和嫺熟的外交手腕。
   She is not exactly known for her tact.
   她并不以策略见称。

tact noun

tact
\ˈtakt\ noun
(-s)
Etymology: French, from Latin tactus sense of touch, from tactus, past participle of tangere to touch — more at
1.
 a. archaic : the sense of touch :
  < sight is a very refined tact — Joseph Le Conte >
 b. : a sensitive touch :
  < must not be set to do work of a practical nature until he has shown tact — Katharine S. Woods >
2. : sensitive mental or aesthetic perception : a nice feeling for refinements or subtle values : ,
 < the Venetians as a school were from the first endowed with exquisite tact in their use of color — Bernhard Berenson >
 < precision and tact of interpretation — Martin Price >
3. : a keen sense of what to do or say in a difficult or delicate situation in order to maintain good relations with others or avoid offense : , ,
 < without the tact to perceive when remarks were untimely — Thomas Hardy >
 < tact is an inestimable quality in a secretary — Harold Croft >
 < his editing is a marvel of unobtrusive tact — New York Herald Tribune Book Review >
Synonyms:
 , , : implies both skill and considerateness in dealings with others and especially delicacy or sympathetic understanding in observing the feelings of others
  < his vicar, who had so much tact with the natives, so much sympathy with all their shortcomings — Willa Cather >
  < hoping however that the matter would be handled with sufficient delicacy and tact to avoid breaking up the committee — A.L.Funk >
  < more than sufficient tact never to discuss either whiskeys or sermons in the wrong place — Arnold Bennett >
  is more general than in suggesting a general command, stressing the skill involved in creating a good impression when meeting strangers or in handling new or difficult situations, often implying adroitness or suavity
  < tall, well formed, of remarkably fine address, ready in decision and prompt in action, a gentleman of heart and intellect whom both teachers and children respected — H.N.Sherwood >
  < if he expresses his judgments cogently and aims them with sufficient address at the critical conscience — F.R.Leavis >
  suggests a self-possession or equanimity that is preserved even under the stress of embarrassing or upsetting situations
  < the appearance of self-possession or poise that comes from an habitual attention to what is graceful and becoming — D.C.Hodges >
  < recovers its dignity and poise and becomes once more a stately avenue of a waterborne commerce — Tom Marvel >
  carries the idea of a worldly experience that gives the skilled ability to handle all situations with tact and poise
  < to her relief he took it with the savoir faire of a man of the world — MacLean's Magazine >

  < its technical know-how needs to be supplemented in the political field by some European savoir faire — Percy Winner >