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say it: TAKT-fuhl
tactful is an adjective meaning "having or showing a sense of what is fitting and considerate in dealing with others". It is pronounced /ˈtæktfəl/ — TAKT-fuhl. It carries 2 recorded senses.
having or showing a sense of what is fitting and considerate in dealing with others
“she was tactful enough not to shatter his illusion”
“a tactful remark eased her embarrassment”
showing skill and sensitivity in dealing with people
“by diplomatic conduct he avoided antagonizing anyone”
“a tactful way of correcting someone”
“the agency got the kid-glove treatment on Capitol Hill”
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for tactful come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.