glad hand

See synonyms for glad hand on Thesaurus.com
nounInformal.
  1. a hearty welcome or enthusiastic reception, especially one that is effusive or hypocritical: Visiting dignitaries were being given the glad hand.

Origin of glad hand

1
First recorded in 1890–95

Other definitions for glad-hand (2 of 2)

glad-hand
[ glad-hand ]

verb (used with object)
  1. to greet warmly.

  2. to greet in an insincerely effusive manner.

verb (used without object)
  1. to greet others with enthusiasm, especially feigned enthusiasm: The candidate spent weeks glad-handing around the state.

Origin of glad-hand

2
First recorded in 1900–05

Other words from glad-hand

  • glad-hander, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use glad hand in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for glad hand

glad hand

noun
    • a welcoming hand

    • a welcome

verbglad-hand
  1. (tr) to welcome by or as if by offering a hand

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with glad hand

glad hand

A warm and hearty but often insincere welcome or greeting, as in Politicians are apt to give the glad hand to one and all. [Slang; late 1800s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.