gesticulate
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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gesticulatornoun
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overgesticulateverb
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gesticulativeadjective
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gesticulatoryadjective
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overgesticulativeadjective
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ungesticulatingadjective
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ungesticulativeadjective
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ungesticulatoryadjective
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overgesticulativelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gesticulatesimple
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gesticulatessimple
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have gesticulatedperfect
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has gesticulatedperfect
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am gesticulatingprogressive
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are gesticulatingprogressive
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is gesticulatingprogressive
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have been gesticulatingperfect progressive
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has been gesticulatingperfect progressive
Past
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gesticulatedsimple
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had gesticulatedperfect
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was gesticulatingprogressive
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were gesticulatingprogressive
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had been gesticulatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gesticulate
1595–1605; < Latin gesticulātus (past participle of gesticulārī ), equivalent to Late Latin (assumed in Latin ) gesticul ( us ) gesture (diminutive of gestus; see gestic, -cule 1) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
When you gesticulate, you make sweeping and excited movements with your hands when speaking. Someone describing a scary car accident might gesticulate wildly. The verb gesticulate is related to the noun gesture. Gesture has stress on the first syllable, and gesticulate has the stress on the second syllable. Gesticulate, which comes from the Latin gesticulus meaning "to mimic," describes animated movements people make in conversation — with and without words. People who gesticulate could be said to talk with their hands!
Vocabulary lists containing gesticulate
The Lingo of Body Language
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Grade 10, List 4
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Life Is So Good
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Let the officers pore over their digital maps and the soldiers gesticulate obscurely at one another on the field.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025
On the touchline, Postecoglou was going potty, somehow managing to gesticulate wildly in six different directions at the same time in the kind of fluid movement that was utterly beyond the players he was berating.
From BBC • Dec. 12, 2024
They even made note of our facial expressions and the way we would gesticulate, and they worked that into it a bit, so I would say it was unusually collaborative.
From Salon • Feb. 1, 2024
City’s manager was furious, repeatedly turning to the Anfield fans behind the dugout to gesticulate.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 16, 2022
Owlsdarck's handwriting was luckily large and legible; and I was able to storm and gesticulate without hinderance.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 11, No. 68, June, 1863 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
