Meaning & use
gesticulation
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The act of moving your hands and arms in an expressive way while speaking.
Grammar: Used without a for the general habit: wild gesticulation.
Patterns
- gesticulation of someone
His angry gesticulation made it clear he disagreed.
The speaker's constant gesticulation distracted the audience.
She explained the route through gesticulation because she did not speak the language.
nouncountable
A particular gesture or hand movement of this kind, usually a big, emphatic one.
Grammar: Often plural: his wild gesticulations.
Patterns
- gesticulations of someone
The coach's frantic gesticulations were visible from the back of the stadium.
Her gesticulations grew bigger as the story got more exciting.
Word forms
| plural | gesticulations |
|---|
Common combinations
- wild gesticulation
- His wild gesticulation knocked over a glass.
- animated gesticulation
- The two friends talked with animated gesticulation.
- frantic gesticulation
- The driver pointed with frantic gesticulation to the road ahead.
- accompanied by gesticulation
- His speech was accompanied by dramatic gesticulation.
- gesticulation and shouting
- Gesticulation and shouting filled the market.
Synonyms and how they differ
- gesturing
- Gesturing is the plain, neutral word, while gesticulation suggests larger and more vigorous movements.
- waving
- Waving means moving a hand or object back and forth, but gesticulation is tied to speech.
- signaling
- Signaling aims to pass a specific message, whereas gesticulation often just adds energy to talk.
Opposites
Word family
- gesticulate verb
- to use big hand and arm movements while speaking
- gesticulative adjective
- given to expressive hand movements
- gesture noun
- a movement that expresses meaning
- gesticulator noun
- a person who gesticulates
Commonly confused: gesticulation or gesture? gesticulation or articulation?
gesticulation vs gesture
A gesture is any single meaningful movement or kind act. Gesticulation is a lively stream of such movements and often sounds excessive.
gesticulation vs articulation
Articulation is the clear pronunciation of speech, not movement of the hands.
Practice
The lecturer's constant ___ distracted students from what he was actually saying.
Choose one answer.
Gesticulation is large, energetic hand and arm movement during speech. Articulation concerns pronunciation, so it would not be a visual distraction.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gesticulation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.