handwave
verb[IorT]
uk/ˈhænd.weɪv/us/ˈhænd.weɪv/tobehaveortalkas if aproblem,question, etc. is notimportantorworthseriousattention, forexamplebyignoringit,discussingit in a verygeneralway, ordiscussingsomethingelseinstead:
Ifeellike thequestionsgot handwavedoffby thespeaker.
Histalkhandwaved over someimportantdetails.
We handwave thisinconsistencybyassumingit was arevisionerror.
Synonym
dismiss
- When myargumentsdon't makelogicalsenseI justtryto handwave off theinconsistentstuff.
- Talking aboutseasonalunemploymentis a good way to handwave away the need for newjobs.
- If someonestartsasentencewith "Clearly..." or "Obviously..." it is alikelysignthat he is about to handwave.
- You can handwave thisplotholeas thechoiceof thenarratorbut Ithinkaskilfulwritershould havehandleditbetter.
Treating as unimportant
- blow
- blowsomething/someoneoff
- brushsomeone/somethingaside
- chopped liver
- damn
- denigrate
- denigration
- front
- laugh
- leavesomethingat the dooridiom
- look down onsomeone
- minoritize
- never
- on the front burneridiom
- shrugsomethingoff
- skate over/aroundsomething
- sniff atsomething
- sweepsomethingaside
- talksomethingdown
- wave
handwave
noun[C]
uk/ˈhænd.weɪv/us/ˈhænd.weɪv/anactofbehavingortalkingas if aproblem,question, etc. is notimportantorworthseriousattention, forexamplebyignoringit,discussingit in a verygeneralway, ordiscussingsomethingelseinstead:
Paraphrasing someone'sargumentsin asarcastictoneis aclassichandwave.
- Thewholechapteris agianthandwave aboutdesign.
- This is themathematicalequivalentof a handwave:importantstepsareleftout so that something isassumedto betrue.
Treating as unimportant
- blow
- blowsomething/someoneoff
- brushsomeone/somethingaside
- chopped liver
- damn
- denigrate
- denigration
- front
- laugh
- leavesomethingat the dooridiom
- look down onsomeone
- minoritize
- never
- on the front burneridiom
- shrugsomethingoff
- skate over/aroundsomething
- sniff atsomething
- sweepsomethingaside
- talksomethingdown
- wave