Meaning & use
jill of all trades
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phraseinformal
A woman who can do many different kinds of work or activity reasonably well.
Grammar: Used as a noun phrase about a person: She is a jill of all trades.
Patterns
- be a jill of all trades
- a jill of all trades and master of none
My aunt is a real jill of all trades: she fixes bikes, bakes bread, and teaches piano.
After ten years in small companies, she became a jill of all trades who could handle sales, accounts, and design.
phrasefixed phraseinformaldisapproving
A woman who has some skill in many areas but is not an expert in any of them.
Grammar: Often used with a slightly critical tone, especially in the longer form with "and master of none".
Patterns
- a jill of all trades and master of none
- be a jill of all trades rather than a specialist
He calls himself a jill of all trades and master of none, but he is the person everyone asks for help.
Being a jill of all trades can be useful in a small office, though big firms often want specialists.
Common combinations
- a jill of all trades and master of none
- She jokes that she is a jill of all trades and master of none.
- a real jill of all trades
- Our neighbor is a real jill of all trades who can repair almost anything.
- become a jill of all trades
- Working on a farm made her become a jill of all trades.
- a jill of all trades in the kitchen
- As a jill of all trades in the kitchen, he can bake, grill, and make sauce from scratch.
Synonyms and how they differ
- jack of all trades
- The more common and older form, used about a man or about a person in general; "jill" is specifically female.
- generalist
- A neutral, more formal word for someone with broad rather than deep knowledge; it does not carry the same playful or slightly critical tone.
- handyman
- Refers mainly to someone who does practical repairs, usually a man, while "jill of all trades" covers many kinds of skills.
Opposites
Word family
- jack of all trades phrase
- The male or general form of the same expression.
Commonly confused: jill of all trades or Jane of all trades? jill of all trades or master of none?
jill of all trades vs Jane of all trades
A rare variant that uses a different female name; the standard phrase uses "jill".
jill of all trades vs master of none
This is only the second half of the longer saying, not a name for a person on its own.
Practice
Which sentence uses "jill of all trades" correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase is a countable noun phrase, so it needs "a" before it: "a jill of all trades". Option 1 misses the article, option 2 uses "has" as if it were an object you can own, and option 3 uses "does", which does not fit this fixed phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “jill of all trades”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.