glad-handed; glad-handing; glad-hands
: to extend a glad hand to
candidates glad-handing everyone they meet
: to extend a glad hand
glad-handing as if he were running for mayor
: a warm welcome or greeting often prompted by ulterior reasons
Examples of glad-hand in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Lauren Kent, CNN Money, 12 Sep. 2025
Carrier didn’t fit any stereotype of a glad-handing huckster with a bad loan to sell.
—Anjeanette Damon, ProPublica, 13 May 2025
Later, at a lavish lunch in Al-Yamamah Palace, Trump and the crown prince began an hourlong glad-handing session featuring Saudi royals, officials and military commanders.
—Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2025
The vice president of production (Ike Barinholtz) is more typically the kind of strategically glad-handing guy who makes it to the top.
—Nina Metz, Boston Herald, 27 Mar. 2025
There’s the contest itself, the Big Game, and then there’s the week leading up to it, a jubilee of parties and promotions, a glad-handing orgy for the sports-entertainment complex and a bucket-list indulgence for fans who can spare the time and the expense.
—Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
Buck is a loquacious, glad-handing oaf who has a boring way with a witty story, and is marked for death.
—Fred Schruers, IndieWire, 27 Feb. 2025
Carr wanted to bring Broadway verve and Vegas bombast to the Academy Awards, but the stunned looks on the faces of front-row nominees who were getting glad-handed by a Disney princess indicated that Carr’s vision was an immediate catastrophe.
—Zach Schonfeld, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2025
The cheers rise and fall like waves as Trump glad-hands his way through the UFC announcers’ table and VIP section.
—Jack Crosbie, Rolling Stone, 14 Jan. 2025
Sharon Lafraniere, New York Times, 26 Jan. 2024
Arguably the most notorious figure from the game’s most storied rivalry flew from his South Florida home to Boston for Tuesday night’s game and was expected to glad hand a few Yankees before, for many of them, the biggest game of their lives.
—Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 5 Oct. 2021
Abbott took in his first term wasn’t as effective as Perry’s more glad handing approach to the job, Jillson said.
—Allie Morris, Dallas News, 22 Mar. 2020
His medium, his material, is human frailty, the near end of original sin, and the tools of his trade are the glad hand, the scratched back, the padded envelope, the cut corner, and the jumped line.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 5 Oct. 2017
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Verb
Russia has continued to ramp up attacks on Ukraine, including on civilians, even as Putin met with Trump in Alaska and glad-handed other US officials.
—Lauren Kent, CNN Money, 12 Sep. 2025
Carrier didn’t fit any stereotype of a glad-handing huckster with a bad loan to sell.
—Anjeanette Damon, ProPublica, 13 May 2025
Later, at a lavish lunch in Al-Yamamah Palace, Trump and the crown prince began an hourlong glad-handing session featuring Saudi royals, officials and military commanders.
—Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2025
The vice president of production (Ike Barinholtz) is more typically the kind of strategically glad-handing guy who makes it to the top.
—Nina Metz, Boston Herald, 27 Mar. 2025
There’s the contest itself, the Big Game, and then there’s the week leading up to it, a jubilee of parties and promotions, a glad-handing orgy for the sports-entertainment complex and a bucket-list indulgence for fans who can spare the time and the expense.
—Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
Buck is a loquacious, glad-handing oaf who has a boring way with a witty story, and is marked for death.
—Fred Schruers, IndieWire, 27 Feb. 2025
Carr wanted to bring Broadway verve and Vegas bombast to the Academy Awards, but the stunned looks on the faces of front-row nominees who were getting glad-handed by a Disney princess indicated that Carr’s vision was an immediate catastrophe.
—Zach Schonfeld, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2025
The cheers rise and fall like waves as Trump glad-hands his way through the UFC announcers’ table and VIP section.
—Jack Crosbie, Rolling Stone, 14 Jan. 2025
Noun
But for all the talk of South Carolina’s penchant for dirty tricks, the state also values the glad hand.
—Sharon Lafraniere, New York Times, 26 Jan. 2024
Arguably the most notorious figure from the game’s most storied rivalry flew from his South Florida home to Boston for Tuesday night’s game and was expected to glad hand a few Yankees before, for many of them, the biggest game of their lives.
—Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 5 Oct. 2021
Abbott took in his first term wasn’t as effective as Perry’s more glad handing approach to the job, Jillson said.
—Allie Morris, Dallas News, 22 Mar. 2020
His medium, his material, is human frailty, the near end of original sin, and the tools of his trade are the glad hand, the scratched back, the padded envelope, the cut corner, and the jumped line.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 5 Oct. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Glad-hand.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glad-hand. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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