All 4 Uses
tact
in
A Spool of Blue Thread
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- Most people just tactfully discarded them, but Marge Ellis brought a whole handful to the Whitshanks' front door, where Red accepted them with a confused look on his face.†
p. 64.3 *tactfully = in a manner that makes others feel good
- But he might think she was tactlessly reminding him that he was not a Whitshank.†
p. 164.2tactlessly = in an offensive mannerstandard suffix: The suffix "-lessly" in tactlessly means in a manner that is without. This is the same pattern you see in words like harmlessly, fearlessly, and remorselessly.
- He was furious at Mrs. Brill for witnessing it, even though he had to admit that she had behaved very tactfully.†
p. 327.1tactfully = in a manner that makes others feel good
- In a way, it was her tact he was furious at.†
p. 327.1tact = the ability or act of saying or handling things in such a way that others feel good about them
Definitions:
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(1)
(tact) the ability or act of saying or handling things in such a way that others feel good about them
- (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)