kiss hands

verb

To formally accept an appointment as prime minister or certain other ministerial positions in a royal ceremony.

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Meanings

verbkiss hands (third-person singular simple present kisses hands, present participle kissing hands, simple past and past participle kissed hands)

present singular third person kisses hands · participle present kissing hands · participle past kissed hands · past kissed hands

  1. UKgovernmentTo formally accept an appointment as prime minister or certain other ministerial positions in a royal ceremony.

    Bishop Wilberforce had accompanied Mr. Gladstone to Windsor, when he went to kiss hands on his appointment as Prime Minister.

    1896, Reginald Baliol Brett Esher (Viscount), The Yoke of Empire: Sketches of the Queen's Prime Ministers, page 175
    1 more example

    His Majesty received in audience the Rt Hon Andrew Burnham MP and requested him to form a new Administration. The Rt Hon Andrew Burnham MP accepted The King’s offer and kissed hands upon his appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.

    2026 July 20, Buckingham Palace
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see kiss, hands.

Origin

Originally, people appointed by the sovereign would demonstrate fealty by kissing the sovereign's hand.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

kiss hands. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kiss%20hands

MLA

“kiss hands.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kiss%20hands. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kiss hands,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kiss%20hands.

Source: kiss hands on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.