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• hands-down
  hands-down

  adjective

  easy.
• hands down
  hands down

  Also, in a breeze ; in a walk . Easily, without effort, as in She won the election hands down , or They won in a breeze, 10–0 , or The top players get through the first rounds of the tournament in a walk . All of these expressions originated in sports. Hands down , dating from the mid-1800s, comes from horse racing, where jockeys drop their hands downward and relax their hold when they are sure to win. In a breeze , first recorded in a baseball magazine in 1910, alludes to the rapid and easy passage of moving air; in a walk , also from baseball, alludes to taking a base on balls, that is, reaching first base without having hit a pitched ball because of the pitcher's mistakes.

hands-down

American  

[handz-doun] / ˈhændzˈdaʊn /

adjective

1. easy.

   a hands-down victory.

2. certain.

   a book destined to be a hands-down bestseller.

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hands down Idioms  

1. Also, in a breeze ; in a walk . Easily, without effort, as in She won the election hands down , or They won in a breeze, 10–0 , or The top players get through the first rounds of the tournament in a walk . All of these expressions originated in sports. Hands down , dating from the mid-1800s, comes from horse racing, where jockeys drop their hands downward and relax their hold when they are sure to win. In a breeze , first recorded in a baseball magazine in 1910, alludes to the rapid and easy passage of moving air; in a walk , also from baseball, alludes to taking a base on balls, that is, reaching first base without having hit a pitched ball because of the pitcher's mistakes.

2. Unquestionably, without a doubt, as in Hands down, it was the best thing I've ever done .

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Usage

What does hands-down mean? Hands-down describes something that is easy, as in Our team had a hands-down win, not even breaking a sweat. Hands-down also describes something that is guaranteed, as in Hands-down, that was the hardest test so far this year! Example: Our home team would win against yours hands-down.

Etymology

Origin of hands-down

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hands-down hands down

Makers of the high-bandwidth memory needed for AI data centers have beaten Nvidia hands-down this year, with Micron Technology tripling as, again, chip prices rocketed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026

Performing longer stints in one city also makes it "hands-down" easier for artists to secure good support acts, says Reilly.

From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2026

Buchholz confirmed that indeed was the case: “I can tell you absolutely that it was the bold choices and big swings that made Jessica absolutely the hands-down choice of our search committee.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2025

And “country,” the hands-down favorite music of “real Americans,” has long been a production-line item with as much idiosyncrasy in the songs as Olive Garden breadsticks.

From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2025

Christian Brothers, hands-down, by the biggest margin of all.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

His contest with Gabriel was hyped up before the game but Haaland won that battle hands down.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

The play, which received the Pulitzer Prize this year, was hands down the best work I read or saw since last year’s Pulitzer and Tony winner, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ “Purpose.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026

Chanos won that argument hands down, closing his long bitcoin/short Strategy trade for a sizeable gain.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 16, 2026

In the interim, the court preserved the lower courts’ orders, keeping TPS in place for Syria and Haiti until it hands down a decision.

From Slate ● Mar. 17, 2026

Frank presses his hands down into his pockets, like he might find the answers in there.

From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers