Meaning & use
glad-hand
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Meaning
verbtransitive or intransitiveinformaldisapproving
To greet people with loud, over-friendly warmth, usually to win their votes, business or goodwill.
Grammar: With an object (glad-hand the crowd) or without one (he glad-handed all evening).
Patterns
- glad-hand someone
- glad-hand the crowd
The senator spent the evening glad-handing donors at the fundraiser.
He glad-handed his way through the party, shaking every hand in the room.
Salespeople were glad-handing potential clients at the trade show.
Word forms
| third person singular | glad-hands |
|---|---|
| past tense | glad-handed |
| past participle | glad-handed |
| -ing form | glad-handing |
Common combinations
- glad-hand voters
- Candidates glad-hand voters at county fairs.
- glad-hand donors
- The mayor glad-handed donors before the speech.
- glad-hand the crowd
- The host glad-handed the crowd at the opening.
- glad-hand clients
- He is paid to glad-hand clients and close deals.
- glad-hand guests
- She glad-handed guests at the reception without remembering a single name.
Synonyms and how they differ
- schmooze
- 'Schmooze' is chatting to influence people, usually in conversation, while 'glad-hand' stresses hearty greetings and handshakes.
- press the flesh
- 'Press the flesh' is an informal idiom for shaking hands, especially by politicians, and is less critical than 'glad-hand'.
- work the room
- 'Work the room' is more approving and means moving among guests to make useful contacts.
- ingratiate oneself
- 'Ingratiate oneself' is formal and focuses on winning favor, with no mention of handshakes.
Opposites
Word family
- glad-hander noun
- a person who greets everyone with showy friendliness
- glad hand noun
- an overly warm welcome, as in 'give someone the glad hand'
- glad-handing noun
- the act of greeting people with showy warmth
Practice
At the fundraiser, the senator spent the whole evening ___ donors.
Choose one answer.
'Glad-handing' means greeting people with showy friendliness to win support. 'Scolding' and 'whispering' do not suit winning donors, and 'interviewing' would be a formal task.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “glad-hand”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.