VERSATILITY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does versatility mean? 

• VERSATILITY (noun)
  The noun VERSATILITY has 1 sense:

1. having a wide variety of skills

  Familiarity information: VERSATILITY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VERSATILITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Having a wide variety of skills

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("versatility" is a kind of...):

skillfulness (the state of being cognitively skillful)

Derivation:

versatile (competent in many areas and able to turn with ease from one thing to another)

versatile (having great diversity or variety)

 Context examples 

The versatility of the process allows various types of electronic components to be incorporated into the fabric.

(Washable, wearable battery-like devices could be woven directly into clothes, University of Cambridge)

To demonstrate this versatility, the researchers constructed a simple "Curie engine".

(New Materials Developed by Scientists Able to Move in Response to Light, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The biologists found that the secret to the birds' perching versatility is in their grip.

(Researchers study birds to improve how robots land, National Science Foundation)

Researchers have hypothesized that versatility in protein function is achievable by stringing together well-folded proteins with IDPs—rather like pearl necklaces.

(Biomaterial Artificial Protein Helps Heal Tissue, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

And this not so much for the sake of his reputation—for, indeed, it was when he was at his wits’ end that his energy and his versatility were most admirable—but because where he failed it happened too often that no one else succeeded, and that the tale was left forever without a conclusion.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This versatility is obvious in biological materials like muscle and silk fibers, which are made of proteins that combine ordered and disordered regions, enabling the materials to exhibit characteristics like elasticity of rubber and the mechanical strength of steel.

(Biomaterial Artificial Protein Helps Heal Tissue, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)