HAND-TO-MOUTH Synonyms: 70 Similar and Opposite Words

hand-to-mouth

adjective

ˈhan(d)-tə-ˈmau̇th

as in sparse

less plentiful than what is normal, necessary, or desirable survived on a hand-to-mouth income that came from any odd job that he could find

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of hand-to-mouth At the start of The Big Fake, a Netflix dramatization of one criminal’s involvement in the most tumultuous events in post-war Italy, Toni Chichiarelli (Pietro Castellitto) is a talented painter living hand-to-mouth as a portrait artist on the streets of Rome. —

Rory Doherty, Time, 26 Jan. 2026 The occupants of this Neolithic housing development were not hand-to-mouth hunter-gatherers but settled inhabitants of a fertile floodplain. —

Literary Hub, 26 Jan. 2026 The film is not blind to how easily big dreams can be derailed, especially for the hand-to-mouth creative class in a Midwestern outpost. —

Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 9 Jan. 2026 While their musician patriarch is on the road, the eldest sibling has become the clear-eyed voice of discipline in the household who struggles with the strain of their hand-to-mouth life. —

Rob Hubbard, Twin Cities, 20 Dec. 2025 Adams was already familiar with the hand-to-mouth preparation for matches, having taken charge in April 1999. —

Andy Naylor, New York Times, 13 Nov. 2025 Still, most of Yopougon’s residents work informally and live hand-to-mouth. —

Adrien Marotte, Christian Science Monitor, 23 Oct. 2025 Ever since then, the Ekdals have lived hand-to-mouth, bolstered by Håkon’s charity. —

Sara Holdren, Vulture, 14 Sep. 2025 At the center of the story is a jazz musician called Y, a bohemian, artsy type who is fed up with his hand-to-mouth existence and so agrees to a lucrative commission, writing an upbeat song to inspire national pride in the wake of the Hamas terror attacks that took place on October 7, 2023. —

Damon Wise, Deadline, 8 July 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hand-to-mouth

Adjective

Peaking at number two on the r&b singles chart that year, the song’s lyrics hew closely to familiar genre narratives but are transformed by the sparse yet eclectic instrumental sound being refined by Timbaland and Missy.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 9 Mar. 2026
About 85 percent of the original road is still drivable, although signage is sparse and Google Maps doesn’t recognize Route 66 as a single continuous path.

— Zoey Goto, Travel + Leisure, 8 Mar. 2026