Word.ws English Dictionary

handwaving

/ˈhandweɪvɪŋ/

handwaving adjective: waving the hands. Also the alternative form of hand waving.

Adjective

handwaving (comparative more handwaving, superlative most handwaving)

  1. (not comparable) Waving the hands.
  2. Pertaining to empty gesturing, with little substance behind it; vague; not supported by data.

Also used as

handwaving is also the alternative form of hand waving.

handwaving is also the present participle and gerund of handwave.

handwaving meaning in Arabic

handwaving in Arabic

waving the hands
تَلْوِيح بِالْيَد talwīḥ bi-l-yad

Forms of handwaving

Adjective
comparativemore handwaving
superlativemost handwaving
Noun
pluralhandwavings

Origin of handwaving

From hand + waving.

Questions about handwaving

What does handwaving mean?
Handwaving means waving the hands.
What is handwaving in Arabic?
Handwaving in Arabic is تَلْوِيح بِالْيَد (talwīḥ bi-l-yad). See Handwaving meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is handwaving?
Handwaving is an adjective.
How do you pronounce handwaving?
Handwaving is pronounced /ˈhandweɪvɪŋ/ (UK).

Words near handwaving in the dictionary

  1. handwaved
  2. handwaver
  3. handwavers
  4. handwaves
  5. handwavey
  6. handwaving
  7. handwavings
  8. handwavium
  9. handwavy
  10. handwear
  11. handweave

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: handwaving (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-handwaving.wav.

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