Meaning & use
getting out of hand
Last updated
Meaning
phraseintransitive
becoming difficult to control or manage, especially in a bad way
Grammar: Used after 'be' or verbs like 'start', 'keep', 'stop'; it describes a process, not a state.
Patterns
- be getting out of hand
- start getting out of hand
- things are getting out of hand
The party is getting out of hand—people are breaking things.
Prices are getting out of hand; we can't afford to eat out anymore.
The argument was getting out of hand, so I walked away.
Common combinations
- things are getting out of hand
- Things are getting out of hand at the office; we need more staff.
- start getting out of hand
- The celebration started getting out of hand after midnight.
- get out of hand
- If you don't watch the children, they will get out of hand.
Synonyms and how they differ
- spiraling
- This suggests a fast, worsening loss of control, while 'getting out of hand' is more general and often used for situations that are just becoming too wild.
- unmanageable
- This is an adjective meaning 'impossible to control'; 'getting out of hand' emphasizes the process of becoming so.
Opposites
Word family
- get out of hand phrase
- The base form, meaning to become uncontrolled.
- out of hand phrase
- A related phrase meaning 'uncontrolled' or 'without delay' (as in 'rejected out of hand').
Commonly confused: getting out of hand or out of hands?
getting out of hand vs out of hands
This is not a correct phrase in English. The idiom is always 'out of hand' (singular).
Practice
Fill in the blank: The protest was ___ out of hand, so the police moved in.
Choose one answer.
After 'was', we need the -ing form to show an ongoing process: 'was getting out of hand'. 'Got' would be past simple and cannot follow 'was' in this way; 'get' and 'gets' are present forms and do not fit after 'was'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “getting out of hand”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.