hand-waving
noun
hand-wav·ing
ˈhan(d)-ˌwā-viŋ
variants
or less commonly handwaving
or hand waving
1
: movement with the hand or hands made as a signal to another
Over the last decade, the frenzied screaming and hand-waving on exchange trading floors has started to go the way of the horse and buggy.—Gail Marks Jarvis
The woman and I cobbled together a lingua franca through hand-waving and the bits of Mandarin and Cantonese we both could understand.—Madelyne Xiao
2
: insubstantial and unsupported or ineffective statements, arguments, actions, etc., especially when intended to distract or mislead
In many respects, his essay is the quintessence of the form, a frustrating exercise in bland soul-searching, misdirection, and hand-waving.—Laura Miller
If this explanation seems a bit like hand waving, it is. Many of the details have not been worked out.—Don Lincoln
… we never, ever take concrete steps to solve our problems, no matter how much handwaving we do.—Matthew Dessem
—often used before another nouna hand-waving theory/explanation/argument
Cite this Entry
“Hand-waving.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hand-waving. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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