handmade
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of handmade
Explanation
Something that's handmade wasn't made by a machine, but formed, built, or constructed by an actual person. A handmade sweater from your grandma is one she knit herself. Handmade items can look awkward and inexpertly constructed, but just as often they're more beautiful and special than their machine-made counterparts. Handmade pottery is unique, each bowl or mug looking slightly different since they're made and glazed individually, by hand. A handmade birthday card from a young relative is charming in a way its Hallmark equivalent could never be. Handmade comes from the sense of "made by hand."
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.
Many key parts are largely handmade and come from single-source suppliers like Boeing, which makes the missile’s advanced seeker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Walters gave him a box filled with handmade items, including piles of mittens, hats, and other items he’d crocheted for children; Collins dropped the box off with a church deacon.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Another social media user called it "pure handmade" and the biggest "dark horse" of the summer movie season.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
“The Wrong Girls” has a tactile and handmade feel to it, inspired by the punk-inflected lo-fi sci-fi of the 1984 cult classic “Repo Man.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
I found a hinge, old handmade nails that would come in handy, and finally, treasure of treasures, the axle of an old wagon.
From "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
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.
