prestidigitation
/ˌprɛstɪˌdɪdʒɪˈteɪʃ(ə)n
/noun [mass noun] formal
Conjuring tricks performed as entertainment.Perhaps you would like to see a little bit of legerdemain, or a paltry amount of prestidigitation, or a conundrum of conjuring....
- By leaps and bounds, what I saw Kreskin perform on this DVD was the worst display of prestidigitation in my life.
- It's ethical prestidigitation with ‘moral equivalence’ used for misdirection only.
Derivatives
prestidigitator
- He's a self-confessed rebel, a ‘poet-in-the-sky’, a prestidigitator who can do conjuring tricks and pick a pocket or two.
- At university, I was an active member of a society for prestidigitators, magicians and other such unserious folk.
- Superman, spiderman, body-builder, magician, tactician, prestidigitator - call him whatever you may want, but he is a world-class, top-class off spinner and a match winner.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from French, from preste 'nimble' + Latin digitus 'finger' + -ation.