This week’s theme
Words originating in the hand

This week’s words
mainpast
openhanded
light-fingered
thumbsucker
southpaw

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(oh-puhn-HAN-duhd)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Generous; liberal.
2. Delivered with an open hand, as a blow.

ETYMOLOGY:

The figurative meaning alludes to someone giving money or other things away with an open hand. Earliest documented use: 1593. Some opposite terms are clutchfist, ironfisted, and hardfisted.

USAGE:

“[Adam McKay] was generous with his own mind, in the way that newly rich people are often openhanded with money, as they know they can always get more.”
Michael Lewis; Big Short, Big Screen; Vanity Fair (New York); Holiday 2015-2016.

See more usage examples of openhanded in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: