free-hand vs freehand

Both 'free-hand' and 'freehand' are correct, but 'freehand' is more commonly used as a single word in English. The hyphenated form 'free-hand' is less common and may be seen in older texts or in specific contexts.

Last updated: March 30, 2024 • 1120 views

This is a correct construction but less commonly used in modern English.

"free-hand"

The term 'free-hand' is used to describe drawing or writing done without the use of guiding tools or aids. It can also refer to a style of drawing or writing that is loose and spontaneous.

Show examples from the web [+]

With this button, you can draw your curve free-hand with the mouse.
Trust me, free-hand portraiture is pretty gnarly To do on skin, man.
Trust me, free-hand portraiture is pretty gnarly To do on skin, man.
You ought to give him a free hand.
He has given me a free hand on all creative decisions.
Do not use your free hand to press the device over the needle.
Six hours ago, I admit... I still had a free hand.
They gave me a free hand to make a deal.
So when Eckhart opened this trunk, Caldrone had free hands.
Daniels gave me a free hand to pull people from any district.
Others, with a free hand get results.
England is not our natural enemy... and he offers guarantees for the British empire... if you give Germany a free hand in Europe.
It is illogical to include this provision, which effectively gives the Commission a free hand to impose new regulations at any time.
What His Honour's trying to say is... you got yourself a free hand in this town.
Sharon was given a free hand to raise and train his unit.
Give me a free hand for a few months, and I'd make them pay for it.
So, you can mix free hand segments and polygonal segments.
If we give Gallegher a free hand-
You're asking Britain to reward Germany with a free hand against France merely for fulfilling its legal and moral obligations to Belgium.
I keep Godfrey Industries profitable, I'm given a free hand to run things as I see fit.

Alternatives:

freehand
sketching by hand
drawing without aids
writing freely
loose drawing

This is the more commonly used form in modern English.

"freehand"

The term 'freehand' is used to describe drawing or writing done without the use of guiding tools or aids. It can also refer to a style of drawing or writing that is loose and spontaneous.

Show examples from the web [+]

It enables me to cut in ways that I would never be able to do freehand.
Note: this is the same thing as the "incremental" option in the Krita 1.6 freehand tool options.
Click to draw a dot or click and drag to draw a freehand line.
Draws dots and freehand strokes
You're cutting freehand?
Freehandpolygon Click this to start drawing a freehand polygon.
Craig, you can't trace freehand and expect it to be perfect.
Did you do every exercise, even the freehand drawing?
The Free Select Tool allows you to draw a border using either freehand or straight lines. Use this when the subject has a relatively simple shape. Read more about this tool here:
Then, it looks like the tagger painted over it a second time, to make it look freehand.
We have to take them and sew them all freehand into the finished article.
And these were created without sketches, just freehand, by putting the sugar down on a white surface and then manipulating it to get the words and designs out of it. Recently, I've also made some rather highbrow baroque borders out of lowbrow pasta.
You did these freehand?
I spoke to Niall Freeland's wife.
Chrystia Freeland: The rise of the new global super-rich
Alan Freeland from IBM, who was also on the ethics panel, said ICT technology is essentially neutral, "it is how it is applied".

Alternatives:

free-hand
sketching by hand
drawing without aids
writing freely
loose drawing

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free-hand vs freehand

"free-hand"

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