wafture
9.9
A movement of the hand or arm to send a signal
- noun
- /ˈwɔːftʃər/
- Archaic
:
gesto
- The teacher accompanied her explanation with a wafture of her hand to emphasize the main point.
Examples
-
She made a gentle wafture with her hand to signal everyone to come closer.
-
And with an angry wafture of your hand, gave sign for me to leave you.
-
His dramatic wafture toward the door indicated it was time to leave the party.
Synonyms
gesture
vswafture
245
3.2
An action done to show feeling or good will rather than to change things
is specifically about hand or arm movement used to signal others
wave
vswafture
127
1.0
A hand movement to greet or attract attention
is the same gesture concept but uses a different word form
waggle
vswafture
3
4.9
A small repeated movement from side to side or up and down
is a single intentional hand or arm movement used as a signal
waving
vswafture
1
1.0
A movement of the hand to greet or get attention
is the same intended hand movement named in a different grammatical form
hand-waving
vswafture
1
4.9
Moving the hands to get attention or make a point
is a broader signal term not limited to those specific communicative functions
How Expressive
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word wafture comes from waft, meaning 'to move gently through the air', and the ending -ure that turns an action into 'a thing'. Think of a small 'wave' of the hand that sends a message, so a wafture is a gentle hand movement used as a signal.