handiwork

noun

hand·​i·​work ˈhan-di-ˌwərk 

-dē-

1

a

: work done by the hands

b

: work done personally

recognized her handiwork

2

: the product of handiwork

Synonyms

• affair
• fruit
• labor
• output
• produce
• product
• production
• thing
• work
• yield

Examples of handiwork in a Sentence

They admired the potter's beautiful handiwork.

I think all of these problems are her handiwork.

Recent Examples on the Web

This was the handiwork of Drew Barrymore, who got the street renamed as a stunt when Garten appeared on a 2022 episode of her talk show. —Molly Fischer, The New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2024

Cannon appeared skeptical of her own novel handiwork. —Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 18 July 2024

One flagrant example that now might not be repeated was the handiwork of the ethnic studies department at UC Santa Cruz, where statements backing Hamas actions including murder, rape and mutilation of scores of Israeli Jews stayed on the departmental site for months. —Thomas Elias, The Mercury News, 9 Aug. 2024

Everything matched, pink and black, so the outfit must have been Gisela’s handiwork. —Nell Freudenberger, The New Yorker, 28 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English handiwerk, from Old English handgeweorc, from hand + geweorc, from ge- (collective prefix) + weorc work — more at co-

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

handiwork

noun

hand·​i·​work ˈhan-di-ˌwərk 

: work done by the hands or by oneself