Skillfully means doing something with practiced ability and confidence. When a gymnast lands a difficult routine skillfully, her movements look smooth and controlled because she's trained for thousands of hours. When a chef chops vegetables skillfully, the knife moves quickly and precisely, with no wasted motion.

The word describes actions that show real competence developed through practice and experience. A beginning piano player might struggle through a song with effort and determination, but an experienced pianist plays it skillfully, making difficult passages sound effortless. A student who writes skillfully gets the facts right, chooses words carefully, organizes ideas clearly, and makes the writing flow naturally.

Notice that skillfully implies grace, efficiency, and a kind of mastery that comes from practice and experience. When someone does something skillfully, you can tell they've done it many times before and learned from their mistakes. The opposite might be clumsily, awkwardly, or inexpertly. A related word is skillful, which describes someone who regularly performs tasks with this kind of practiced ability.