hand-waving

1. alternativeuncountableAlternative spelling of hand waving.

   So when we're discussing thought and conscious processes, talking about minds is precise, and even measurable (what else do public opinion pollsters do?) while talking about brains is just hand-waving.

   2011 June 17, Andrew Brown, “Minds, brains and woo”, in The Guardian

comparative more hand-waving · superlative most hand-waving

1. alternativeAlternative spelling of handwaving.

   For years much of this has been explained with hand-waving references to body types and metabolism—broadly accurate, but cold comfort to the estimated 61% of Americans who are overweight or obese and want to have their weight controlled, not merely explained.

   2001 January 15, Jeffrey Kluger, “Obesity”, in Time

   1 more example

   You, me and everything in the universe are holograms. This may seem very vague and hand-waving. However, in 1998, the Argentinean-American physicist Juan Maldacena published a paper that shored up the idea that we live in a ‘holographic universe’ and set the world of physics alight.

   2018, Marcus Chown, Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand […] , Michael O'Mara Books, →ISBN

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of hand-wave