Jump to:

• hands-off
  hands-off

  adjective

  characterized by nonintervention or noninterference.
• hands off
  hands off

  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]

hands-off

American  

[handz-awf, -of] / ˈhændzˈɔf, -ˈɒf /

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 British  

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

---

hands off Idioms  

1. 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]

---

Etymology

Origin of hands-off

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

As chairman of BP, Manifold’s inclination was to act like an executive chairman rather than as a more hands-off nonexecutive role, people familiar with his leadership style said.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026

One conversion in Hemel Hempstead is a "fully hands-off investment with guaranteed income and no ongoing headaches", he says.

From BBC • May 20, 2026

Other than providing contact information for the people on his list, Milgrom says the estate was hands-off throughout the process.

From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026

The answer to their problem still comes with sacrifice; they’re still at somebody else’s whim, even if that somebody has promised to be hands-off.

From Salon • May 6, 2026

A hands-off policy had backfired, the insurgents had gathered strength.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols