All 6 Uses of
tact
in
Arrowsmith
- She seemed to him a miracle of tact and ease as she bullied her guests into an appearance of merriment.†
Chpt 5 *tact = the ability or act of saying or handling things in such a way that others feel good about them
- She had need of tact, for Dr. Norman Brumfit was there, and it was one of Dr. Brumfit's evenings to be original and naughty.†
Chpt 5
- While he was practicing the tactful observation he was going to present two minutes from now, he could still hear the clumsy thing he had said two minutes before.†
Chpt 6tactful = to say or handle things in a way that makes others feel good about them
- He was guilty of an absurd and boyish tactlessness when he heard Norblom observing to the postmaster, "A fellow that calls himself a doctor just because he had luck with that fool Agnes Ingleblad, he hadn't ought to go getting drunk and disgracing—" Martin stopped.†
Chpt 16tactlessness = to say or handle things in a needlessly offensive waystandard suffix: The suffix "-lessness" in tactlessness means in a state without. This is the same pattern you see in words like fearlessness, powerlessness, and harmlessness.
- Mayor Pugh considered him tactless.†
Chpt 24tactless = the quality of saying or handling things in a needlessly offensive mannerstandard suffix: The suffix "-less" in tactless means without. This is the same pattern you see in words like fearless, homeless, and endless.
- "Oh, you got to expect that," he reflected, feeling that he was being tactful and patient and penetrating.†
Chpt 37tactful = to say or handle things in a way that makes others feel good about them