Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

have one's hands tied

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.09 in modern English

Syllables
have one's hand-s tied
IPA
28
Scrabble Score
17
Letters
2
Syllables
10
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To be powerless to act, to be thwarted.

Informal

Example Sentences

Usage

Inflected Forms

has one's hands tied (present, singular) having one's hands tied (participle, present) had one's hands tied (participle, past) had one's hands tied (past)

Phrases

have one's hands full tie someone's hands with one hand tied behind one's back

Frequently Paired Words

have one's hands full tie someone's hands with one hand tied behind one's back

Questions

What does have one's hands tied mean?
To be powerless to act, to be thwarted.

How to pronounce have one's hands tied

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “have one's hands tied”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “have one's hands tied”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “have one's hands tied” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.