skillful

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 巧 relates to skillfulness; its kun-reading is たくみ and its on-reading is こう.
• Basic usage: 巧み(たくみ) means skillful or clever, while 巧妙(こうみょう) means clever or ingenious.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Evaluating skill and methods
  • 巧みな手つき means skillful hand movements. 巧みに is also used for deftly changing the subject to avoid a question.
  • 巧妙な手口 means a clever method, while 巧妙な仕組み means an ingenious mechanism. The evaluation conveyed by 巧妙 depends on whether it concerns a criminal's method or a device's mechanism.