handwork

noun

hand·​work ˈhand-ˌwərk 

: work done with the hands and not by machines : handiwork

handworker

ˈhand-ˌwər-kər 

noun

Examples of handwork in a Sentence

She wore a beaded dress that required many hours of handwork.

Recent Examples on the Web

The gown took 7,600 hours of handwork and was embroidered with more than 1.4 million beads including 222,000 pieces of black rectangle sequins, more than a million pieces of black bugle beads and 103,500 pieces of black cut beads. —Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 6 May 2025

The variant is the handwork of the brand’s Exclusive Manufaktur custom division and debuts as one of the most visually distinctive 911s of the 992.2 generation. —Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 23 Apr. 2025

While making a custom coat might take two and a half days, the handwork could take a month or longer, due to the complexity of the pieces. —Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019

But Nyong’o’s custom gown sparked the most chatter among the quintet, perhaps because its handwork dazzled viewers. —Laurie Brookins, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for handwork

• artwork
• beadwork
• berserk
• breastwork
• brickwork
• brushwork
• casework
• classwork
• clockwork
• coursework
• ductwork
• earthwork

Kids Definition

handwork

noun

hand·​work ˈhan-ˌdwərk 

: work done with the hands and not by machine