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Glite Dictionary
to hand-wave

to hand-wave

1 8.3
To give a quick, unclear answer instead of real facts
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈhændˌweɪv/
  • Informal
translation icon : evitar dar explicaciones
  • The first thing to try if you're a programmer who works for a manager that hand waves is to say this: "Hey."

Yeah, given that it you can just hand wave and say, OK, quantum mechanics will brush it away.

Examples

  • Instead of answering the question directly, he opted to hand-wave his response with vague gestures.

  • So we can sort of hand wave to kind of say this must be, this must be true.

  • Yeah, given that it you can just hand wave and say, OK, quantum mechanics will brush it away.

    Robinson Erhardt

  • OK, so that was my total hand waving explanation of what you're seeing here.

  • Really super classy of you to just hand-wave away all that and suggest we should really be focused on the delicate.

    Blog text (28)

  • You can't hand-wave this reality away with appeals to nonsense.

    Blog text (6)

  • But the plight of the poor in the United States is not, you know, this, this thing that I sort of hand wave or dismiss away.

  • During the meeting, he chose to hand-wave the issue instead of providing a clear solution.

  • When asked about the budget, she decided to hand-wave the details and focus on other topics.

Synonyms

to tergiversate
vsto hand-wave
  • Formal
9.9

To avoid a direct answer by being unclear on purpose

avoids giving details by being vague or using gestures instead of facts
to flannel
vsto hand-wave
  • UK
9.6

To speak in a vague or praising way to avoid answering

avoids details using gestures or nonfacts instead of flattering words
to talking bullspit
vsto hand-wave
  • Offensive
9.9

To say nonsense or unimportant things to avoid giving a clear answer

avoids a satisfactory explanation by being vague or using gestures not nonsense

Antonyms

to go into detail
14 3.4

To explain something carefully and include all important points

How Detailed

to demonstrate
579 3.0
to explain
∞ 1.0
to hand-wave
  • Informal
1 8.3

Surface Forms

hand-wave infinitive
hand-waved past
hand-waved past participle
hand-waving present participle
hand-waves third person singular

Morphology

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

The expression is clearly based on waving a hand, but the figurative sense 'avoid giving a detailed explanation' is a metaphorical extension rather than a fully literal composition.

Etymology

The word hand-wave comes from the everyday gesture of waving your hand to show something is not important or to push it away ('don't worry about it'). So to hand-wave a question is to avoid a real answer by using a gesture or vague words instead of facts.