Hands down means without question, clearly; after win it means easily, without a real fight. It makes an opinion stronger: This is hands down the best café in town. The expression is conversational: it sounds natural in Speaking, but in an essay people write clearly, undoubtedly or by far instead.
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win (+ noun) hands down; be hands down the + superlative + noun; Hands down, + clause
- This is hands down the best ramen I've had outside Japan.
- Of all the courses I've taken, the evening writing class was hands down the most useful.
- Our department won the office quiz hands down this year.
What changed
First versionOverall, public transport is hands down the most effective way to reduce traffic in cities.
RevisionOverall, public transport is clearly the most effective way to reduce traffic in cities.
This sentence comes from an essay: Overall and reduce traffic set a neutral written style. Here hands down sounds like a line from a chat with a friend. The conversational intensifier was replaced with neutral clearly, and nothing else was changed.
The meaning depends on where the phrase goes. Before a superlative, hands down means “without question”: It's hands down the best film of the year. After the verb win, it means “easily”: They won the match hands down.
Your turn
Our team scored six goals and the other team didn't score at all. We won ___.
Show the answer
hands down — A 6–0 score means an easy win, so the team won hands down. Won by a whisker is used when you win by the smallest possible margin, and at 6–0 that's clearly not the case.
Name the best place, book or app you have come across. Use hands down and give one reason why it's the best choice.
The small bakery near my office is hands down the best place for breakfast because the bread is still warm at eight.
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