Meanings
alternative on one hand
- idiomaticsequenceFrom one point of view.
On the one hand, it was quite a good bargain, but on the other hand, do we really need a second car?
2 more examples
1950, Bertrand Russell, acceptance speech for Nobel Prize in Literature I maintain, however, on the one hand, that there are few occasions upon which large bodies of men, such as politics is concerned with, can rise above selfishness, while, on the other hand, there are a very great many circumstances in which populations will fall below selfishness, if selfishness is interpreted as enlightened self-interest.
The country’s first black president, and its first president to reach adulthood after the Vietnam War and Watergate, Mr. Obama seemed like a digital-age leader who could at last dislodge the stalemate between those who clung to the government of the Great Society, on the one hand, and those who disdained the very idea of government, on the other.
2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Bulgarian от една́ страна́
- от една́ страна́ (ot edná straná)from one point of view
Catalan d'una banda
- d'una bandafrom one point of view
Chinese Mandarin 一方面, 一來 /一来
- 一方面 (yī fāngmiàn)from one point of view
- 一來 /一来 (yīlái)from one point of view
Danish på den ene side
- på den ene sidefrom one point of view
Dutch enerzijds
- enerzijdsfrom one point of view
Esperanto unuflanke, de unu flanko
- unuflankefrom one point of view
- de unu flankofrom one point of view
Finnish yhtäältä
- yhtäältäfrom one point of view
French d'un côté
- d'un côtéfrom one point of view
German zum einen, einerseits
- zum einenfrom one point of view
- einerseitsfrom one point of view
Greek αφενός
- αφενός (afenós)from one point of view
Hungarian egyrészt
- egyrésztfrom one point of view
Icelandic annars vegar
- annars vegarfrom one point of view
Irish ar thaobh amháin
- ar thaobh amháinfrom one point of view
Italian da un lato
- da un latofrom one point of view
Japanese 一方
- 一方 (ippō)from one point of view
Lithuanian viena vertus, iš vienos pusės
- viena vertusfrom one point of view
- iš vienos pusėsfrom one point of view
Persian از یک سو
- از یک سو (az yek su)from one point of view
Polish z jednej strony
- z jednej stronyfrom one point of view
Portuguese por um lado
- por um ladofrom one point of view
Romanian pe de-o parte
- pe de-o partefrom one point of view
Russian с одно́й стороны́
- с одно́й стороны́ (s odnój storoný)from one point of view
Scottish Gaelic air an dàrna làimh
- air an dàrna làimhfrom one point of view
Spanish por un lado
- por un ladofrom one point of view
Swedish å ena sidan
- å ena sidanfrom one point of view
Ukrainian з одно́го бо́ку
- з одно́го бо́ку (z odnóho bóku)from one point of view
Cite this entry
on the one hand. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20one%20hand
“on the one hand.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20one%20hand. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on the one hand,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20one%20hand.
Source: on the one hand on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.