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.
Follow the narrow, winding streets in search of handmade leather goods, silver jewelry, spices and herbs, olive oil and products made from Bodrum tangerines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
The opposite of slop isn’t necessarily handmade, independent, expensive or even particularly beautiful.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026
Outside the venue, that same fan-led energy spilled into the streets, with attendees trading handmade gifts and photo cards - a ritual that has spread to Western arena tours in recent years.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
Kent turned to illustrator Alex Juhasz to create the handmade book, drawing inspiration from the eerie silhouetted animation of German filmmaker Lotte Reiniger from the 1920s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
It looks like it was handmade from a white sheet.
From "A Soft Place to Land" by Janae Marks
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.
