handsy

American  

[hand-zee] / ˈhænd zi /

adjective

Informal.

1. tending to touch people with the hands, especially in an inappropriate or sexual way.

   She saw that he was getting handsy with some of the female guests.

2. (in golf, baseball, etc.) characterized by excessive hand and wrist movement.

   a handsy swing.

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Other Word Forms

• handsiness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of handsy

First recorded in 1960–65; either hands ( def. ) + -y ¹ ( def. ), or hand ( def. ) + -sy ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

handsy

It’s fraught enough to try such a handsy, dangerous, co-dependent activity with a friend or sibling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026

In a clip that has been circulating on social media, students can be heard calling out "Beetlejuice" at Boebert, in reference to her handsy, vape-plumed wild night at the theater in Colorado last year.

From Salon ● May 2, 2024

For 90 tightly-wound minutes, Green mixes bleary naturalism and baked-in dread, as these modern women are exposed to the handsy, winking Neanderthal clientele, and the bar turns into a ticking time bomb.

From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2024

That heat took the form of 125-mph serves that were as dangerous from their placement as their power and handsy groundstrokes that were deceptively deep and varied.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 12, 2021

Greg and I are both mild-mannered, socially recessive WASPs not prone to public displays of affection, But put on some Beyoncé or Parliament with a strong beat and we get all handsy and hippy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2020