glad hand

See synonyms for glad hand on Thesaurus.com
nounInformal.
  1. a hearty welcome or enthusiastic reception, especially one that is effusive or hypocritical: Visiting dignitaries were being given the glad hand.

Origin of glad hand

1
First recorded in 1890–95

Words Nearby glad hand

Other definitions for glad-hand (2 of 2)

glad-hand
[ glad-hand ]

verb (used with object)
  1. to greet warmly.

  2. to greet in an insincerely effusive manner.

verb (used without object)
  1. to greet others with enthusiasm, especially feigned enthusiasm: The candidate spent weeks glad-handing around the state.

Origin of glad-hand

2
First recorded in 1900–05

Other words from glad-hand

  • glad-hander, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use glad hand in a sentence

  • Then I went down to the office with Dad, and saw the boys, who all came round and gave me the glad hand, and wished me luck.

    The Whistling Mother | Grace S. Richmond
  • He raised, he flung up glad hand and commenced to ride in circles, around and around and around.

    Desert Dust | Edwin L. Sabin
  • You may be sure Ed meets him at the station—Ed is not working—and he gives him the hello and the glad hand.

    Dave Ranney | Dave Ranney
  • After the count was over, Flood made a great ado over my guest and gave him the glad hand as if he had been a long-lost brother.

    The Outlet | Andy Adams
  • Where'd be the sense in them giving the glad hand to the guy who's got it in him to do them out of a nice soft job?

    Linda Lee, Incorporated | Louis Joseph Vance

British Dictionary definitions for glad hand

glad hand

noun
    • a welcoming hand

    • a welcome

verbglad-hand
  1. (tr) to welcome by or as if by offering a hand

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with glad hand

glad hand

A warm and hearty but often insincere welcome or greeting, as in Politicians are apt to give the glad hand to one and all. [Slang; late 1800s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.