on the one hand

idiom

variants or on one hand

—used to introduce a statement that is followed by another contrasting statement which is typically introduced with on the other hand

On the one hand, I think the price is fair, but on the other hand, I really can't afford to spend that much money.

On one hand, there is the historical, real person—George Washington the President—but on the other hand, there is the legendary person—George Washington the cherry-tree chopper.

—Anthony Hollingsworth

Examples of on the one hand in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The shooting in Minneapolis serves as a stark reminder of the stubborn gap that often persists between law and policy on the one hand and best law enforcement practices for protecting life on the other. —Ben Jones, Fortune, 9 Jan. 2026

So on the one hand, attention for books. —Fiction Non Fiction, Literary Hub, 8 Jan. 2026

The European Union’s ecodesign for sustainable products regulation, for instance, will soon require apparel producers to up their deployment of recycled materials on the one hand, and deal with their waste on the other. —Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 5 Jan. 2026

Something that, on the one hand, would pay homage to the pastries at Blackhole, but something that also wasn’t quite the same. —Kansas City Star, 13 Dec. 2025

Rhymes for on the one hand

• ampersand
• beforehand
• behindhand
• bottomland
• contraband
• countermand
• dixieland
• fairyland
• fatherland
• firebrand
• hinterland
• motherland