hands-off

[handz-awf, -of]

adjective

1. characterized by nonintervention or noninterference.

   the new hands-off foreign policy.

2. remote or unfriendly; estranging.

   a truculent, hands-off manner toward strangers.

hands-off

adjective

1. (of a machine, device, etc) without need of manual operation

2. denoting a policy, etc, of deliberate noninvolvement

   a hands-off strategy towards industry

Word History and Origins

Origin of hands off¹

First recorded in 1860–65

Idioms and Phrases

An order to stop touching or interfering with something, as in Hands off the cake, children! This idiom is also put as keep one's hands off, as in She knew she had to keep her hands off so he could learn to tie his shoes by himself. [Mid-1500s]