Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to sit on your hands

to sit on your hands

12 8.1
Not do anything when action is needed
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : quedarse de brazos cruzados
  • While the project is falling behind schedule, we cannot afford to sit on our hands any longer.
  • just sitting on your hands
  • sit on your hands and wait
  • sit on your hands and let

Don't just sit on your hands next time, right?

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • I'm not gonna sit on my hands and wait for this lunatic to strike again.

    Fire Serpent (2007)

  • Guess we got to sit on our hands for a while.

    Blog text (24)

  • His entire administration sat on their hands.

    Blog text (13)

  • You think I'm sitting on my hands?

    True Colors (1991)

  • I'm not sitting on my hands no more.

    Against the Ropes (2004)

  • The longer they sit on their hands, the more time they waste on Harvey and others.

    Blog text (30)

  • Instead, millions sat on their hands and watched the storm coming on the evening news.

    Blog text (9)

  • Don't just sit on your hands next time, right?

    Variety

  • But I can't just sit on my hands and watch other people die.

    Man-Thing (2005)

  • We can't sit on our hands over there forever.

    Fiction book (1990)

Synonyms

to sit around
vsto sit on your hands
  • Informal
350 1.1

To spend time sitting and doing very little without a clear purpose

is failing to act in an important situation rather than casual inactivity
to sit back
vsto sit on your hands
  • Informal
103 3.5

To do nothing when you should help

means not acting even when stepping in would be appropriate rather than neutral noninvolvement
to stand by
vsto sit on your hands
90 4.2

Watch without helping when someone is in danger

is a direct failure to act in a needed situation rather than just remaining nearby
to sit tight
vsto sit on your hands
  • Informal
80 3.7

To wait patiently and not act

is inactive when action is required rather than calmly waiting for change
to sit by
vsto sit on your hands
12 5.6

Do nothing while something bad or important happens

is failing to act when action is clearly needed rather than merely observing
to twiddling thumbs
vsto sit on your hands
  • Informal
4 5.8

To do nothing while you wait for something to happen

implies refusing to act when intervention is necessary rather than mere waiting idly
to sit on one's ass
vsto sit on your hands
  • Offensive
2 9.9

To sit and do nothing instead of working

is deliberate nonaction when action is needed rather than general laziness
to sit out
vsto sit on your hands
2 3.9

Stay in a place or situation until something boring ends

is refusing to act when action is required rather than simply staying through an event
to sit on one's hands
vsto sit on your hands
  • Informal
1 7.4

To do nothing when someone should act

has exactly the same meaning and no difference in use
to twiddle one's thumbs
vsto sit on your hands
  • Informal
1 6.8

Do nothing while waiting for something to happen

is purposeful inaction when action is needed rather than idle waiting
to hang an arse
vsto sit on your hands
  • Offensive
9.9

To waste time instead of working

is a refusal to act in required situations rather than casual dawdling
to drag one's heels
vsto sit on your hands
  • Informal
7.5

To delay doing something because you do not want to do it

is complete nonaction when intervention is needed rather than slow deliberate delay

Antonyms

to intervene
197 5.0

To become involved in a situation to change or stop what is happening

to take action
161 2.8

To do something to solve a problem or make a change

How Passive

to sit on your hands
  • Informal
12 8.1
to stand by
90 4.2
to do nothing
888 1.5
to hesitate
318 2.5

Surface Forms

sit on your hands infinitive
sat on your hands past
sat on your hands past participle
sitting on your hands present participle
sits on your hands third person singular

Morphology

sit + on + your + hands

The expression evokes the image of literally sitting on one's hands to prevent using them, so the sense 'refrain from acting' is motivated by the constituents and can be plausibly inferred by learners. However, this is a metaphorical extension rather than a fully compositional meaning, so the relation is only partially predictable without prior exposure.

Etymology

The phrasal verb sit on your hands may come from the image of someone literally sitting on their own hands to keep them still and stop themselves from doing anything. That's why it means 'to take no action' when action is needed.