Meaning & use
hand-wrought
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Meaning
adjectivebefore a nounliteraryold-fashioned
made or shaped by hand, especially of metal that has been hammered or worked into form
Grammar: Used before a noun: hand-wrought iron. Not usually after a verb; say made by hand instead.
Patterns
- hand-wrought iron
- hand-wrought silver
- hand-wrought metalwork
The gate was made of hand-wrought iron, twisted into elegant curves.
She collected hand-wrought silver from local craftspeople.
The old church still has its hand-wrought hinges and latches.
Common combinations
- hand-wrought iron
- The balcony railing is hand-wrought iron.
- hand-wrought silver
- The museum displays hand-wrought silver from the eighteenth century.
- hand-wrought metal
- Each piece is hand-wrought metal, so no two are identical.
Synonyms and how they differ
- handmade
- The general, everyday word for anything made by hand, not just metal.
- handcrafted
- Similar to handmade but often suggests skill and care in the making.
- forged
- Forged means shaped by hammering, usually metal, but does not necessarily mean by hand.
Opposites
Word family
- wrought adjective
- shaped or made, especially of metal; also used in wrought iron
Commonly confused: hand-wrought or overwrought?
hand-wrought vs overwrought
Overwrought means extremely anxious or upset, not made by hand.
Practice
The lamp has a base of ______ brass, shaped with a hammer.
Choose one answer.
Hand-wrought means shaped by hand, which fits brass worked with a hammer. Hand-wringing is anxious worry, hand-wheel is a machine part, and hand-picked means carefully chosen.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hand-wrought”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.