openhanded

openhanded adjective: done with an open hand. Also the simple past and past participle of openhand.

Adjective

openhanded (comparative more openhanded, superlative most openhanded)

Done with an open hand.
- In the painting, the enslaved and (as conjectured by historian Steven Weisenburger) sexually abused Margaret Garner betrays her liaison with her owner Archibald Gaines with an exposed, openhanded gesture toward him.2008, Richard J. Powell, Cutting a Figure: Fashioning Black Portraiture, →ISBN, page 52
- And when I did not answer, f-for my mouth was t-too dry for speech, he asked again, and I stammered out some nonsense, and then he struck me, openhanded, as though I was not a man.2015, Alexis Hall, Shackles: A Prosperity Story, →ISBN, page 45
Generous.
- In the economic realm, because of its temporary preponderance, the United States could afford to be openhanded.1995, Robert L. Paarlberg, Leadership Abroad Begins at Home: U.S. Foreign Economic Policy After the Cold War, →ISBN
- Yet he understood nothing of real magnanimity; his charity was part of an openhanded recklessness, which made him fling the goods of fortune to the wind as soon as gained—part of the character of grand seigneur he aspired to assume.1888, John Addington Symonds, Renaissance in Italy - Volume 5, page 400
Frank and tolerant.
- Let selling be an openhanded selling, with justly balanced scales and price which do not prejudice either party, buyer or seller.1989, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Hamid Dabashi, Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr, Expectation of the Millennium: Shi'ism in History, →ISBN, page 82
- Arm-in-arm with religious liberals stand a legion of openhanded political liberals, humanists, and, of course, homosexuals themselves, all of whom passionately embrace homosexuality as a morally and constitutionally justified “alternative lifestyle."2006, Hal Brunson, Lesbos, Narcissus, and Paulos, →ISBN, page ix
Loose and full.
- We believe the majority of Swiss guides use the Swiss loop at the end of the rope, and the openhanded loop in the middle.1891, The Alpine Journal - Volume 15, page 7
- The iconic flower of love could be found in every state of its life cycle -- tender green shoots with tiny green thorns that looked like baby teeth, buds determined not to reveal themselves any sooner than necessary, fresh blooms that resemble sleepers just opening their eyes, and full blosssoms...2012, T.D. Jakes, Let it Go: Forgive So You Can Be Forgiven, →ISBN

Adverb

openhanded (comparative more openhanded, superlative most openhanded)

With an open hand or hands.
- Patterson smacks her openhanded on the side of the head.2014, Benjamin Whitmer, Cry Father, →ISBN, page 278
Generously.
- He leaves the mild Alexander to continue, under the pressure of fraternal competition, the hereditary policy of Peter and Catherine; to raise levy after levy, loan after loan, ineffectually, while loans of any amount required are given openhanded by the people of France and England to their...1856, The Living Age - Volume 48, page 502

Also used as

openhanded is also the simple past and past participle of openhand.

Forms of openhanded

Adjective
comparative	more openhanded
superlative	most openhanded
Adverb
comparative	more openhanded
superlative	most openhanded

Questions about openhanded

What does openhanded mean?: Openhanded means done with an open hand.
What part of speech is openhanded?: Openhanded can be an adjective or an adverb.

Words near openhanded in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: openhanded (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: 2026-09-02

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