Meanings
verbwrist-slap (third-person singular simple present wrist-slaps, present participle wrist-slapping, simple past and past participle wrist-slapped)
present singular third person wrist-slaps · participle present wrist-slapping · participle past wrist-slapped · past wrist-slapped
- idiomatictransitiveTo reprimand mildly.
You know the mother will probably only wrist-slap her "little angel" with a tsk-tsk. No wonder the kid is a little terror.
Synonyms: kid-glove, slap someone's wrist
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo reprimand mildly.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 輕微的懲罰 /轻微的惩罚
- 輕微的懲罰 /轻微的惩罚 (qīngwēi de chéngfá)overly mild punishment
Dutch op de vingers tikken, tik op de vingers
- op de vingers tikkento reprimand mildly
- tik op de vingersoverly mild punishment
Finnish näpäyttää, torua
- näpäyttääto reprimand mildly
- toruato reprimand mildly
- näpäytysoverly mild punishment
- torutoverly mild punishment
German but see zu milde Strafe
- but see zu milde Strafeoverly mild punishment
Polish karcić łagodnie, skarcić łagodnie
- karcić łagodnieto reprimand mildly
- skarcić łagodnieto reprimand mildly
- łagodna karaoverly mild punishment
Russian получи́ть по рука́м, получи́ть по ша́пке
- получи́ть по рука́м (polučítʹ po rukám)overly mild punishment
- получи́ть по ша́пке (polučítʹ po šápke)overly mild punishment
Vietnamese giơ cao đánh khẽ
- giơ cao đánh khẽto reprimand mildly
Cite this entry
APA
wrist-slap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wrist-slap
MLA
“wrist-slap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wrist-slap. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wrist-slap,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wrist-slap.
Source: wrist-slap on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.