diplomatic

Compared meaning: skillful and pleasant in dealing with people (adjective).

比较义项：说话、待人圆滑得体，很会应对他人（形容词）。

• smooth

  Often slightly negative: describes a pleasantly confident manner that may hide insincerity, especially someone trying to charm, flatter or sell something.

  常带轻微贬义：形容一个人态度令人愉悦、自信，但这种讨人喜欢可能并不真诚，尤其用于奉承或推销的场合。

  Be careful with that smooth salesman; he'll say anything to make a sale.

  对那个油嘴滑舌的推销员要小心，他为了成交什么话都说得出来。

• diplomatic 本词

  Positive; describes skill in handling sensitive situations or disagreements between people without causing offense or conflict, often in negotiations.

  含褒义：指善于处理他人之间的敏感局面或分歧，避免冒犯或引发冲突，常用于谈判或调解场合。

  The manager was diplomatic when settling the dispute between the two employees.

  经理在调解两名员工之间的纠纷时表现得很老练。

• tactful

  Positive; focuses narrowly on choosing words carefully so as not to hurt someone's feelings, especially when giving unwelcome news or feedback.

  含褒义：侧重于说话措辞谨慎，以免伤害他人感情，尤其是在传达不受欢迎的消息或给出反馈时。

  He was tactful enough not to mention her mistake in front of everyone.

  他很得体，没有当着大家的面提起她的失误。

Smooth, diplomatic, and tactful all describe someone skillful and pleasant with people. Smooth can be slightly negative, suggesting charm that may hide insincerity. Diplomatic stresses skill in handling disagreements, while tactful stresses careful words that avoid hurting feelings. Other meanings are not compared.

这三个词都形容一个人很会说话、待人得体，但语气不同：smooth 略带贬义，暗示讨人喜欢却可能不真诚；diplomatic 和 tactful 都是褒义，真心顾及他人感受，其中 diplomatic 更强调处理复杂局面或分歧的手腕，tactful 更强调说话措辞不伤人。smooth 还有“光滑的”“顺利的”等义项，diplomatic 还有“外交的”义项，这里都不作比较。