dryhanded

Adjective

dry-handed (comparative more dry-handed, superlative most dry-handed)

1. Having hands that are dry.
   • She identified the dry grasp and the finger joints (both the Simpsons were dry-handed, and in the early stages of arthritis, so Dr Simpson had diagnosed).2012, Patrick White, The Cockatoos: Shorter Novels and Stories, →ISBN
2. Old and withered, with connotations of lacking sexual potency or appeal.
   • She went from the arms of the football captain to the dry-handed grasp of Mr. Depopolus, who'd retired from the faculty when she was twelve years old.2012, Jennifer Drew, Dear Mr. Right, →ISBN
3. (archaic) Empty-handed.
   • "But since they commenced to turning folks away, off dry-handed, giving them nothing while folks were getting hungry, well then the federal government fixed the welfare.1979, Paul Cowan, The tribes of America, page 162
4. (obsolete) Unarmed; lacking special equipment for fighting.
   • 'And now,' she said,'ye maun hae arms:ye maunna gang on dry-handed; but use them not rashly.1815, Sir Walter Scott, Guy Mannering
5. (obsolete) Snobbish; concerned more with social standing than actual worth.
   • During the ensuing period of growth and change Barrington began to consider itself the seat of learning and culture and to look down its nose somewhat at the outer villages, which in turn accused Barrington of becoming "dry-handed" and altogether too high-minded as it turned from fishing to...1953, Herbert Leslie Stewart, The Dalhousie Review - Volume 33, page 156