free hand

American  

noun

1. unrestricted freedom or authority.

   They gave the decorator a free hand.

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free hand British  

noun

1. unrestricted freedom to act (esp in the phrase give ( someone ) a free hand )

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adjective

1. (done) by hand without the use of guiding instruments

   a freehand drawing

free hand Idioms  

1. Also, free rein. Freedom to do or decide as one sees fit. For example, The teacher gave her assistant a free hand with the class, or They gave me free rein to reorganize the department. The first expression dates from the late 1800s, the second from the mid-1900s.

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Etymology

Origin of free hand

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

free hand

"So I tried to take a pretty free hand with it and kind of plow my own furrow."

From Barron's ● Mar. 1, 2026

Ms. Rodríguez doesn’t have an entirely free hand in the dictatorship.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026

The Thai air force has had a free hand bombing targets inside Cambodia, which has limited air defences and no air force of its own to speak of.

From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2025

In the prior regime, Sheridan had been given a free hand creatively and on spending, which Ellison and his new executive team had reportedly signaled might not continue in the same way.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2025

She felt so relieved to see the wayward chicken again that she put her hand out enthusiastically to shake the boy’s free hand.

From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye