fingered

fingered — adjective

  • fingeredpositive
  • more fingeredcomparative
  • most fingeredsuperlative

1. describing a hand, paw, or glove that has a particular number, length, or qualit

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

describing a hand, paw, or glove that has a particular number, length, or quality of fingers — for example, a five-fingered glove or a long-fingered pianist.

Example

Jisoo bought a pair of five-fingered gloves for her cycling trip in November.

pattern: [number]-fingered + noun

The long-fingered pianist could stretch across an octave with no effort.

pattern: [adjective]-fingered + noun (describing hand shape)

Common collocations
  • five-fingered
  • three-fingered
  • long-fingered
  • slim-fingered
  • ten-fingered
Synonyms
  • -handed

    different body-part suffix, used the same way (left-handed, two-handed)

Antonyms
  • fingerless

    without fingers, or with the finger sections cut off (e.g. fingerless gloves)

Grammar Patterns

[number]-fingered + noun

[adjective]-fingered + noun

Usage Note

Almost always used in a compound with a number or descriptive adjective in front (five-fingered, long-fingered, slim-fingered). Rarely stands alone before a noun.

Common Mistakes

a fingered glove' (alone, without a number or quality word).
a five-fingered glove.
needs a hyphenated modifier such as a number or shape word in front to make sense.
a fingered child' meaning a child with normal hands.
a ten-fingered child.
without the number, readers cannot tell what is being described.

2. having long thin parts that stick out and look like fingers, used most often for

2.adjectiveC2
Definition

having long thin parts that stick out and look like fingers, used most often for plants, leaves, or shapes in nature.

Example

Obi pressed a fingered leaf from the chestnut tree into her nature journal.

typical use: describing a plant leaf shape

The fingered roots of the mangrove gripped the muddy bank during low tide.

describing plant roots with finger-like extensions

Common collocations
  • fingered leaf
  • fingered roots
  • fingered fronds
  • fingered coral
Synonyms
  • finger-like

    more common everyday wording for the same shape idea

  • digitate

    technical botanical term for leaves shaped like an open hand

Grammar Patterns

fingered + plant/object noun

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense describes plants or natural shapes (no number prefix needed), while sense 1 always pairs with a number or quality word in front.

Common Mistakes

a fingered building' to describe a tall building.
a finger-like building' or 'a tower-shaped building.
this sense applies to natural shapes (leaves, roots, coral), not architecture.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

These words all describe hands or finger-like parts, but they are used very differently. 'Fingered' almost always appears in a compound with a number or quality word in front, such as 'five-fingered' or 'long-fingered', and describes the count or shape of fingers. '-handed' works the same way grammatically but counts hands instead of fingers, as in 'one-handed catch' or 'left-handed batter'. 'Fingerless' is the simple opposite for the count sense, used for gloves with the finger sections cut off, or, more rarely, for a hand that has lost its fingers. 'Digitate' is a technical botanical term for leaves shaped like an open hand with finger-like sections; you would meet it in a plant guide, not a clothing label. For example: a knitting label might say 'five-fingered mittens' (fingered) and 'fingerless mittens' (fingerless), while a field guide would say 'digitate leaves'.

fingered ↗-handedfingerlessdigitate

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • five-fingered glove
  • long-fingered pianist
  • three-fingered sloth
  • fingered leaf
  • fingered roots

Etymology

GermanicOld EnglishModern English

Formed from the noun 'finger' (Old English 'finger', from a Germanic root meaning 'one of five') plus the adjective-forming suffix '-ed', which adds the meaning 'having' or 'provided with'. The same pattern gives us 'horned', 'long-haired', and 'left-handed'. The shape-resembling sense (sense 2) developed later by analogy, applying the word to plants and natural forms whose parts spread out like fingers.