Meaning
Someone able to turn a hand to many things but expert at none of them. The shorter 'jack of all trades' can be neutral or admiring praise for versatility, but adding 'master of none' turns it into a criticism of superficial competence spread too thin. Informal; mildly derogatory in the full form, though increasingly reclaimed as praise for versatility. Regional use: General English.
Origin
'Jack of all trades' is first attested in Geffray Mynshul's Essays and Characters of a Prison (1618; The Phrase Finder gives 1612), in a sneering portrait of a 'broken citizen' who had dabbled in many trades; its direct forerunner is Robert Greene's 1592 insult 'Johannes factotum' ('Johnny do-it-all'), famously aimed at Shakespeare. The critical second half came later: the earliest variant recorded by the OED, 'Jack of all Trades; and it would seem, Good at none', appears in the Boston News-Letter of 1721, and The Phrase Finder traces the full wording with 'master of none' to Charles Lucas's Pharmacomastix (1785). Whether the phrase was originally neutral is disputed: Gary Martin argues it began without negative connotation, while Wikipedia counters that no positive pre-1800 examples are known. The reassuring modern addition 'but oftentimes better than a master of one' is a recent invention marketed as the 'full' original, which it demonstrably is not.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one
- Jack-at-all-trades
- Jill of all trades
Usage Examples
- A jack of all trades and master of none, he could fix a boiler, argue a contract and cook dinner, none of them brilliantly.
- Small firms cannot afford specialists, so they hire jacks of all trades - masters of none, but adaptable.
- Being a master of none has not stopped her portfolio career from thriving.