Word.ws English Dictionary

handiest

handiest is the superlative form of handy.

Meaning of handy

Adjective

handy (comparative handier, superlative handiest)

  1. Easy to use, useful.
    • Some people regard duct tape as a handy fix-all.
  2. Nearby, within reach.
    • You wouldn’t have a screwdriver handy, would you?
    Synonyms:
    at hand, on hand, to hand
  3. Dexterous, skilful. (of a person)
    • She's very handy: she made all her own kitchen cupboards.
    Synonyms:
    crafty
  4. (slang) Physically violent; tending to use one's fists.
    • We had a sergeant who was a bit handy with the rougher elements. He dealt with them a little bit differently to what I do.1974, William Purcell, British Police in a Changing Society, page 68
  5. Of a freight ship: having a small cargo capacity (less than 40,000 DWT); belonging to the handysize class.

See all 11 meanings of handy

Questions about handiest

What is handiest the superlative form of?
Handiest is the superlative form of handy.

Words near handiest in the dictionary

  1. handie talkies
  2. handie-talkie
  3. handie-talkies
  4. handier
  5. handies
  6. handiest
  7. Handigodu syndrome
  8. handily
  9. handiman
  10. handimen
  11. handin'

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: handiest (page history and authors); handy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “handiest.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/handiest. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.