hands-on
Americanadjective
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characterized by or involved in active personal participation in an activity; individual and direct.
a workshop to give children hands-on experience with computers.
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requiring manual operation, control, adjustment, or the like; not automatic or computerized.
the old hands-on telephone switchboards.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of hands-on
First recorded in 1905–10; by analogy with hands-off
Explanation
Something that's hands-on requires direct interaction or participation. If you have hands-on coffee shop experience, it means you've actually made lattes and served scones with your own two hands. When you take a hands-on sewing class, you'll actually cut and pin and sew fabric, and if a high school principal has a hands-on role, she might teach a class each semester. If it's a hands-on chemistry class, students will have the opportunity to mix chemicals and do experiments. Hands-on is a relatively new adjective, coined around 1969.
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.
Alice Parfitt, conservation officer, said: "It would be great to see local communities getting hands-on through wildflower seeding and planting, practical habitat management and creative workshops."
From BBC • Jun. 13, 2026
Our hands-on, multi-device approach to evaluating which VPN performs best for U.S. users provides users with up-to-date and trustworthy guidance on which VPN is right for them.
From Salon • Jun. 10, 2026
“Why not let them get hands-on experience? Why just have them sit and watch?” said Rory Johnson, the child development instructor at the adult school.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
Prof. Feucht combines cancer research with hands-on clinical care.
From Science Daily • Jun. 2, 2026
I’d managed to connect with a group of professional women and form a kind of chatty, hands-on social cluster.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
