handful

American  

[hand-fool] / ˈhænd fʊl /

noun

handfuls plural

1. the quantity or amount that the hand can hold.

   a handful of coins.

2. a small amount, number, or quantity.

   a handful of men.

3. Informal. a person or thing that is as much as one can manage or control.

   The baby's tantrums made him a handful.

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handful British  

/ ˈhændfʊl /

noun

1. the amount or number that can be held in the hand

2. a small number or quantity

3. informal a person or thing difficult to manage or control

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Spelling

See -ful.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• handfuls
  plural

Etymology

Origin of handful

before 900; Middle English, Old English. See hand, -ful

Explanation

A handful is just a little of something, or the amount you can hold in your hand. It can be a literal handful, like a handful of popcorn, or it can mean just a few, like a handful of trucks. You might find yourself eating handfuls of raspberries when you're supposed to be picking them to make jam. Another meaning of handful is "just a few," as in "There are only a handful of dogs at the dog park this morning." And a third way to use this word is to mean "incredibly difficult to handle." If your mom says, "You were a handful when you were a toddler," she means you were not easy.

Example Sentences

He and his wife successfully requested 200 SpaceX IPO shares across a handful of brokerage accounts.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 23, 2026

This question about dots on the table just happened to be the most famous of the handful that ChatGPT solved.

From Slate • Jun. 22, 2026

This is already playing out at a handful of companies that proclaimed a pivot to AI and later had to either rehire employees or increase head count.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 21, 2026

Wall Street returns from the long weekend this week with a handful of key earnings reports and the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge to look forward to.

From Barron's • Jun. 21, 2026

Only a handful of people knew his plans, and Elisha asked Maggie to keep it that way.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock