Meaning & use
hand-crafted or handcrafted
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Made by a person using their hands and skill, not produced in a factory by machines.
Grammar: Usually comes before the noun: a handcrafted chair. It can also follow a linking verb: the chair is handcrafted.
Patterns
- handcrafted goods
- a handcrafted gift
- be handcrafted from something
- be handcrafted in a place
She sells handcrafted jewelry at the weekend market.
Every table in the shop is handcrafted from local oak.
The chocolates are handcrafted in small batches, so no two boxes look the same.
adjectivebefore a nounfigurative
Showing careful personal work and attention to detail rather than a mass-produced style.
Grammar: Used before a noun to describe something that feels individual and carefully made, such as a piece of writing or a design.
Patterns
- a handcrafted feel
- a handcrafted look
- handcrafted quality
The website has a handcrafted feel, with little drawings on every page.
Critics praised the film's handcrafted look at a time of computer-generated effects.
Common combinations
- handcrafted furniture
- They fill their home with handcrafted furniture from small workshops.
- handcrafted jewelry
- Handcrafted jewelry costs more because each piece takes hours to finish.
- handcrafted from wood
- The bowls are handcrafted from wood cut in the same forest.
- handcrafted in small batches
- The soap is handcrafted in small batches to keep the scent fresh.
- a handcrafted gift
- A handcrafted gift often means more than something expensive.
Synonyms and how they differ
- handmade
- Very close in meaning and more common in everyday speech; it stresses that a person made the thing, while 'handcrafted' adds the idea of skill and careful finishing.
- artisanal
- Sounds more formal and often describes food and drink made in the traditional way; use it for bread, cheese or beer rather than for furniture.
- custom-made
- Focuses on being made for one particular buyer rather than on being made by hand, so a machine can produce a custom-made item.
Opposites
Word family
- handcraft noun
- The activity or skill of making things with your hands.
- handicraft noun
- An object made by hand, or the skill of making such objects; a close relative of 'handcraft'.
- craftsman noun
- A person who makes things skillfully with their hands.
- craftsmanship noun
- The skill and care shown in making something well.
Commonly confused: hand-crafted or handcrafted or handycraft? hand-crafted or handcrafted or home-made?
hand-crafted or handcrafted vs handycraft
A misspelling. The word is 'handicraft' (or 'handcraft'), never 'handycraft'.
hand-crafted or handcrafted vs home-made
'Home-made' only says the thing was made at home, not that it was made by hand; a home-made cake may still be mixed with an electric machine.
Practice
Which sentence uses the adjective correctly?
Choose one answer.
As an adjective, 'handcrafted' goes before the noun it describes, so 'a handcrafted bowl' is correct. Option 0 uses it as a past-tense verb, which is a different use, option 2 wrongly pairs it with 'machines', and option 3 is not a grammatical sentence.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hand-crafted or handcrafted”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.