firsthand
/ˈfɝstˌhænd/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.25 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Direct, without intermediate stages.
adj
Not previously owned or used; contrasted with secondhand.
adv
Directly or from personal experience.
Example Sentences
- "firsthand knowledge"
- "I recently received a firsthand report from an old friend — John A. Keel — who until last year was as skeptical a newshound as I have known."
- "Ours is a generation of aromantics, jaded about matters of the heart — often before gaining firsthand experience."
- "1990 March, Cliff Gromer, Firsthand Report: Yamaha WaveRunner III, Popular Mechanics."
- "Given Mr. Kissinger’s firsthand experience in the anguishing decisions about withdrawal from Vietnam, the disclosure sparked the inevitable Iraq-Vietnam comparisons that Mr. Bush has assiduously sought to avoid."
- "But in his strongest criticism yet of the superdatabase, Sir Ken Macdonald, the former director of public prosecutions, who has firsthand experience of working with intelligence and law enforcement agencies, told the Guardian such assurances would prove worthless in the long run..."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈfɝstˌhænd/
- British English: /ˈfɜːstˌhænd/