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]

Example Sentences

The Center for Biological Diversity and others advocate for a “hands-off” approach to California’s forests and urge management of the wildfire crisis through home hardening and evacuation planning alone.

From Los Angeles Times

They’ve struck a more friendly tone with the president during his second term as they push for a more hands-off approach to regulation while competing to dominate the artificial intelligence race.

From Los Angeles Times

A few have criticised it as overreach, saying the chain has abandoned its previously hands-off approach.

From BBC

Colón-Zayas confirms: “It’s almost hands-off. She really let us do our thing.”

From Los Angeles Times

The state has no corporate income tax, relatively low commercial property taxes and a regulatory environment that’s famously hands-off.

From Salon