handy.
Easy to use, useful.
Meaning & usage
Easy to use, useful.
Some people regard duct tape as a handy fix-all.
Nearby, within reach.
You wouldn’t have a screwdriver handy, would you?
I keep a first-aid kit handy in case of emergency.
Dexterous, skilful. (of a person)
She's very handy: she made all her own kitchen cupboards.
Physically violent; tending to use one's fists.
Of a freight ship: having a small cargo capacity (less than 40,000 DWT); belonging to the handysize class.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English handy, hondi (attested in personal names), alteration of earlier hendi (“handy, skillful”), from Old English *hendiġ (“skillful”) (attested in listhendiġ (“skilled in art”)), from Proto-West Germanic *handīg, *handag, *handug, from Proto-Germanic *handugaz (“handy, skillful, nimble”), from *handuz (“hand”), equivalent to hand + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian jäntich (“handy”), Middle Low German handich (“skillful, apt”), Middle High German handec, hendec (“manual, hand-held”), Old Norse hǫndugr (“efficient”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐌲𐍃 (handugs, “wise, clever”). Akin to Dutch handig (“handy”), Norwegian hendig (“handy”), Swedish händig (“handy”).
The hand.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *handuz Proto-West Germanic *handu Old English hand Middle English hond English hand Proto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij- Proto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English handy From hand + -y (diminutive suffix).
A handgun.
A hand job.
Where this word comes from
Clipping of handgun and hand job followed by -y (diminutive suffix).
(mostly used by Germans) Synonym of mobile phone.
Where this word comes from
Disputed; see German Handy: according to some commentators, this meaning is originally from German (a condensed form of Handfunktelefon), whereas others claim there was an early, but now neglected, antetype of it in English (from etymology 1).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.