skilful

UK/ˈskɪlfəl/US/ˈskɪlfəl/

adjectiveB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,934 of 15,258neutral

Skilful means showing real skill. A skilful player, skilful handling, skilfully done.

This is the British spelling with one l; American writing doubles it as skillful, which is one of the few cases where the American form looks more regular than the British. It praises execution rather than effort or talent.

Definitions of skilful

1adjectiveskilfulShowing real skill.B2+
“She's a skilful driver who can park in the tightest spaces.”

skilful is a quality of ability.

Also accepted in games: skillful

Practised in Word Building

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skilful in the wild

Some skill is needed to successfully complete the game, and skilful players can win more than 20% of the time.
Flower Garden (card game)
Bolland proved to be a fast, skilful striker who could also drop into midfield to great effect.
Gordon Bolland
Roger became a monk of the Abbey of Our Lady of Bec, Normandy and skilful jurist, teaching civil and canon law in England.
Roger de Bailleul
The players have the option, even if they have a poor hand, of persuading their opponent(s) to cave in through skilful bidding (Bieten) and bluffing.
Bieten

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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