Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
👋 Gesturing with hands 🤷 Not detailed 🤷 A vague explanation
hand-waving

hand-waving

7.9
An explanation that is vague and lacks proof or important detail
  • noun
  • /ˈhændˌweɪvɪŋ/
  • Informal
translation icon : explicación vaga
  • Her response was criticized as mere hand-waving, lacking clarity and essential details required for understanding.

And secondly, no amount of hand waving by Google, who has already been calling the lawsuit, quote, deeply flawed is going to make this go away.

Examples

  • During the debate, his arguments relied too much on hand-waving instead of providing concrete evidence.

  • Your post is vague to the point of hand-waving about what the actual scenario and problem is, so whether I can reproduce an environment that is close enough to yours to get relevant figures out of it is anyone's guess.

    Blog text (23)

  • OK, this is going to be again, another hand waving explanation.

  • I mean, I know, I mean, I, I admit this is, this is a bit of a, a hand waving response, but carbon is amazing.

  • You have to it's hand waving and it's, it's arbitrary in some sense.

  • And secondly, no amount of hand waving by Google, who has already been calling the lawsuit, quote, deeply flawed is going to make this go away.

    Gamers Nexus

  • The professor's explanation was just a lot of hand-waving, failing to address the real issues in the project.

Synonyms

rhetoric
vshand-waving
265 7.0

Words that sound impressive but have little real meaning

is a plain evasive explanation that lacks detail rather than stylish persuasion
hand waving
vshand-waving
  • Informal
1 8.6

Making unclear gestures or saying unclear things to avoid a clear answer

is the hyphenated written form with identical vague meaning
flimsy argument
vshand-waving
1 4.2

A reason that is weak and not supported by evidence

is vaguer and often dodges important points rather than only lacking evidence
facile explanation
vshand-waving
  • Formal
6.9

A simple idea about why something happened that misses important facts

is vaguer and more evasive, skipping important points instead of just simple
facile argument
vshand-waving
  • Formal
8.2

A reason that seems simple but is shallow and not careful

is vaguer and aims to avoid key issues rather than merely simplify
broad-brush comment
vshand-waving
6.8

A general remark that does not include specific details

is more evasive and unclear, avoiding important points rather than only general
broad-brush approach
vshand-waving
6.4

A general way of dealing with something that ignores small details

is more of an unclear excuse or avoidance than a broad practical method
toothless argument
vshand-waving
5.6

An argument that has no real power to convince people

is vaguer and evasive rather than simply ineffective in persuasion

Antonyms

to go into detail
14 3.4

To explain something carefully and include all important points

How Rigorous

proof
∞ 2.5
analysis
∞ 3.4
explanation
∞ 1.0
assertion
168 4.0
hand-waving
  • Informal
7.9

Surface Forms

hand-waving singular
hand-wavings plural

Morphology

hand-waving = hand + wave (semi-transparent) = hand + wave + ing

The noun is formed from 'hand' + 'waving' (wave+ing), but the figurative meaning 'a vague or unsupported explanation' is an idiomatic extension of the literal gesture.

Etymology

Hand-waving comes from the idea of a quick hand wave that tries to stop a question instead of giving facts. So a hand-waving is a vague explanation that 'avoids' the real points.