handful

American  

[hand-fool] / ˈhænd fʊl /

noun

• handfuls
  plural

1. the quantity or amount that the hand can hold.

   a handful of coins.

2. a small amount, number, or quantity.

   a handful of men.

3. Informal. a person or thing that is as much as one can manage or control.

   The baby's tantrums made him a handful.

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handful British  

/ ˈhændfʊl /

noun

1. the amount or number that can be held in the hand

2. a small number or quantity

3. informal a person or thing difficult to manage or control

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Spelling

See -ful.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• handfuls
  plural

Etymology

Origin of handful

before 900; Middle English, Old English. See hand, -ful

Explanation

A handful is just a little of something, or the amount you can hold in your hand. It can be a literal handful, like a handful of popcorn, or it can mean just a few, like a handful of trucks. You might find yourself eating handfuls of raspberries when you're supposed to be picking them to make jam. Another meaning of handful is "just a few," as in "There are only a handful of dogs at the dog park this morning." And a third way to use this word is to mean "incredibly difficult to handle." If your mom says, "You were a handful when you were a toddler," she means you were not easy.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

handful handfuls

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” was both shot in the format and shown that way at a handful of venues worldwide.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

That has all changed since it emerged the 35-year-old was one of a handful of people who secretly swapped from Air Force One with Trump in Turkey after a security threat.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

It is also surprisingly simple, relying on only a handful of adjustable parameters and a small number of assumptions within the framework of general relativity.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026

While cosmetics sales rose 6.3% in the first half of 2026 from a year earlier—far outpacing China’s overall retail sales growth of 1.3%—gains are increasingly concentrated among a handful of companies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

He shows me a long metal pole with a grabby claw-thing on the end, a strange little object that looks like a compass, and a handful of plastic bags.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Dozens of Khan supporters gathered near the private hospital, while others flung handfuls of red flower petals at passing cars.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

"We call it rotting out," says Fererro, now wearing a white laboratory coat as he adds handfuls of seagrass to the Calshot tank.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

Workers bend the branches down with a hook-shaped tool made of PVC pipe, helping people reach handfuls of cherries.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026

I have friends who choke down Greek yogurt by the bucketful, who eat handfuls of grilled chicken at a time, who dead lift their own body weight.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026

Crawling across the pebbly rocks and sharp white shells, the blood flowing red from the cut on her knee, Nim threw handfuls of seaweed from one end of the beach to the other.

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr