1.
[syn: versatile, various]
2. changeable or inconstant;
- Example: "versatile moods"
3. competent in many areas and able to turn with ease from one thing to another;
- Example: "a versatile writer"
4. able to move freely in all directions;
- Example: "an owl's versatile toe can move backward and forward"
- Example: "an insect's versatile antennae can move up and down or laterally"
- Example: "a versatile anther of a flower moves freely in the wind"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Versatile \Ver"sa*tile\, a. [L. versatilis, fr. versare to turn
around, v. freq. of vertere: cf. F. versatile. See Verse.]
1. Capable of being turned round. --Harte.
[1913 Webster]
2. Liable to be turned in opinion; changeable; variable;
unsteady; inconstant; as, a versatile disposition.
[1913 Webster]
3. Turning with ease from one thing to another; readily
applied to a new task, or to various subjects; many-sided;
as, versatile genius; a versatile politician.
[1913 Webster]
Conspicuous among the youths of high promise . . .
was the quick and versatile [Charles] Montagu.
--Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Nat. Hist.) Capable of turning; freely movable; as, a
versatile anther, which is fixed at one point to the
filament, and hence is very easily turned around; a
versatile toe of a bird.
[1913 Webster] -- Ver"sa*tile*ly, adv. -- --
Ver"sa*tile*ness, n.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
versatile
adj 1: having great diversity or variety; "his various
achievements are impressive"; "his vast and versatile
erudition" [syn: versatile, various]
2: changeable or inconstant; "versatile moods"
3: competent in many areas and able to turn with ease from one
thing to another; "a versatile writer"
4: able to move freely in all directions; "an owl's versatile
toe can move backward and forward"; "an insect's versatile
antennae can move up and down or laterally"; "a versatile
anther of a flower moves freely in the wind"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
60 Moby Thesaurus words for "versatile":
able, accessible, accomplished, adaptable, adjustable, adroit,
all-around, ambidextrous, amphibious, at hand, available,
changeable, changing, convenient, conversant, coquettish,
dexterous, elastic, facile, faddish, fickle, flexible, flighty,
flirtatious, fluctuating, generally capable, gifted, handy,
inconstant, light, many-sided, mercurial, mobile, multifaceted,
of all work, on call, on deck, on hand, on tap, plastic, pliable,
protean, quicksilver, ready, resourceful, skilled, skillful,
skittish, supple, talented, to hand, toying, two-handed,
undependable, unpredictable, unreliable, vacillating, variable,
volatile, well-rounded