The adjective aimless is commonly used to talk about meandering movements, such as aimless wandering, or activities that lack purpose, such as aimless conversation. Haphazard goes a slapdash step beyond to emphasize disorder, unpredictability, and a lack of foresight or attention. This disheveled adjective is used of things that one might expect to be orderly, well planned out, or at least regular and predictable, but are instead muddled, seemingly random, and maybe even a little chaotic. A haphazard process, for instance, is one that was thrown together at the last minute or that is anything but systematic.

The adjective skillful is a general term for describing competence and expertness. Adroit is a strong synonym for skillful that also conveys facility and ease of performance, but this less common adjective emphasizes cleverness and resourcefulness. An adroit politician, for instance, may be particularly skilled at maneuvering various levers of power and persuasion to accomplish his or her goals. Dexterity and agility, both physical and mental, are key to the meaning and uses of this well-versed word.

The nouns trickery and chicanery both denote deception, but chicanery is usually used of questionable legal, financial, or political maneuvering that involves deliberately misleading language or subterfuge. Trickery is not always attached to mal intent—sometimes this word is used of crafty moves that misdirect or mislead in some ingenious way. Chicanery, however, almost always implies taking advantage of a situation for petty purposes.