Word.ws English Dictionary

handwavy

/ˈhændˌweɪvi/

handwavy adjective: missing important details or logical steps, perhaps instead appealing to laymen, common sense, tradition, intuition, or examples.

Adjective

handwavy (comparative more handwavy, superlative most handwavy)

  1. (informal, proof, or explanation) Missing important details or logical steps, perhaps instead appealing to laymen, common sense, tradition, intuition, or examples.

Forms of handwavy

comparativemore handwavy
superlativemost handwavy
alternative formhand-wavy

Questions about handwavy

What does handwavy mean?
Handwavy means missing important details or logical steps, perhaps instead appealing to laymen, common sense, tradition, intuition, or examples.
What part of speech is handwavy?
Handwavy is an adjective.
How do you pronounce handwavy?
Handwavy is pronounced /ˈhændˌweɪvi/.

Words near handwavy in the dictionary

  1. handwaves
  2. handwavey
  3. handwaving
  4. handwavings
  5. handwavium
  6. handwavy
  7. handwear
  8. handweave
  9. handweaver
  10. handweavers
  11. handweaving

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: handwavy (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-handwavy.wav.

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