VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

out of hand

phrase·Everyday

Last updated

UK/ˌaʊt əv ˈhænd/
US/ˌaʊt əv ˈhænd/

Meanings

  1. phraseidiom

    Impossible to control, because something has become too big, wild or chaotic.

    Grammar: Used after verbs like get, go or be: the party got out of hand.

    Patterns

    • get out of hand
    • go out of hand

    The party got out of hand when hundreds of people arrived.

    His spending has gone out of hand.

    The crowd was getting out of hand, so police stepped in.

  2. phraseidiom

    Immediately and completely, without giving something proper thought or a chance to be discussed.

    Grammar: Often follows reject, dismiss or refuse: they rejected the idea out of hand.

    Patterns

    • reject something out of hand
    • dismiss something out of hand

    The council dismissed the proposal out of hand.

    Don't reject his suggestion out of hand; it may be useful.

    She turned down the offer out of hand.

Common combinations

get out of hand
The argument got out of hand quickly.
spiral out of hand
Costs spiraled out of hand during the project.
reject out of hand
The idea was rejected out of hand.
dismiss out of hand
Don't dismiss out of hand what the children say.
let things get out of hand
The teacher didn't let things get out of hand.

Synonyms and how they differ

out of control
Out of control is the plain way to say something can't be managed, while out of hand sounds slightly more casual and used for situations like parties.
unmanageable
Unmanageable is more formal and describes a lasting condition, not a situation that is escalating.
outright
Outright matches the dismissing sense, saying something is refused completely and openly, while out of hand stresses the lack of thought.

Opposites

under control

Word family

hand noun
the part of the body at the end of the arm
unmanageable adjective
too hard to control
offhand adjective
casual or without preparation
handle verb
to deal with or control

Commonly confused: out of hand or on hand?

out of hand vs on hand

On hand means available and nearby, which is nearly the opposite of out of hand in the sense of lost control.

Practice

The teacher stopped the game before it ___ and someone was hurt.

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “out of hand”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words