View synonyms for

free hand

noun

unrestricted freedom or authority.
They gave the decorator a free hand.

free hand

noun

unrestricted freedom to act (esp in the phrase give ( someone ) a free hand )

adjective

(done) by hand without the use of guiding instruments
a freehand drawing

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Word History and Origins

Origin of free hand¹

First recorded in 1925–30

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Idioms and Phrases

Also, free rein. Freedom to do or decide as one sees fit. For example, The teacher gave her assistant a free hand with the class, or They gave me free rein to reorganize the department. The first expression dates from the late 1800s, the second from the mid-1900s.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The commission must approve exception appointments at the most senior grade, but below this level departments have a free hand to recruit.

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Yoakam cupped his free hand around the bottom of the phone to help amplify the sound.

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But we do know that the court's right-wing majority believes that virtually nothing he does could possibly be criminal, so he's pretty much got a free hand.

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Specifics like an official invitation to join Nato and a free hand in using the long-range missiles supplied by the UK and France.

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The AI companies want the public to give them a free hand despite an obvious conflict of interest — profit-making companies should not be trusted to make decisions that might impede their profit-making prospects.

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freehand free-handed

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