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Glite Dictionary
hand wringing

hand wringing

13 7.7
A way of showing too much worry by repeatedly twisting or clasping the hands
  • noun
  • /hænd ˈrɪŋɪŋ/
  • Informal
translation icon : preocupación excesiva
  • We do a lot of hand wringing and praying and calling for action after school shootings.

So there's not a lot of hand wringing over decision making.

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Examples

  • Of course, this presentation of the art of a continent engendered the same kind of hand-wringing that the 1995 show did.

    Academic text (2008)

  • We have had lots of warm words, hand wringing and some crocodile tears both from the Prime Minister and Ministers in this Chamber.

  • A lot of internal sort of hand wringing about things like that.

  • Since he did this, there has been lots of hand wringing in the European dance world.

    DoctorRamani

  • As Mike said above, how many years was there hand-wringing about the new translation?

    Blog text (24)

  • I'm not sure why there is all this hand-wringing about this concept.

    Blog text (16)

  • The American people finally have a happy ending, after five days... of frantic phone calls and hand wringing.

    Babel (2006)

  • As a result, a lot of hand-wringing goes on while the stability of the country continues to deteriorate.

    Academic text (1993)

  • The Republican Party has been doing a lot of hand-wringing and finger-pointing since the presidential election.

    Blog text (6)

  • The constant hand wringing about the budget cuts has created a tense atmosphere in the office.

Synonyms

handwringing
vshand wringing
  • Informal
2 8.1

Too much worry shown by nervous gestures or talk

focuses on repetitive twisting or clasping of hands as nervous behaviour

Antonyms

composure
38 5.1

Calm control of your feelings and actions in a difficult situation

calmness
9 2.7

A state without strong feelings or worry in your mind

How Worried

panic
394 2.7
anxiety
423 3.5
hand wringing
  • Informal
13 7.7
worry
290 1.0
concern
∞ 1.5
unease
19 4.4

Surface Forms

hand wringing singular
hand wringings plural

Morphology

hand + wring

The noun is directly built from 'hand' + 'wring' and thus literally denotes the action of twisting one's hands; knowing 'wring' (to twist/compress) lets a learner infer the physical gesture. That gesture is a conventional sign of anxiety in many languages, so the extended meaning 'excessive worrying or nervous agitation' is readily derivable by a B1 learner who knows the constituents.

Etymology

The noun hand wringing comes from the image of wringing a cloth to squeeze out water. People twist their hands the same way when they are very worried, so hand wringing means 'too much worrying' that does not help.