手振り（てぶり、teburi）
- hand gesture

The Japanese word 手振り (てぶり, *teburi*) refers to gestures, hand gestures, or body language. It encompasses the movements of one's hands and arms used to communicate or express oneself. It can also refer to any form of physical signaling. 手振り can be used to describe the action of gesturing itself or the gestures made.

⚫︎彼は熱心に手振りで説明した。 Translation: He explained with enthusiastic gestures. ⚫︎その俳優の手振りはとても表情豊かだった。 Translation: The actor's gestures were very expressive. ⚫︎通訳は、彼女の手振りを注意深く見ていた。 Translation: The interpreter was carefully watching her gestures.

You can use 手振り in various situations. ⚫︎When you want to describe someone using gestures while speaking. ⚫︎When you want to emphasize the importance of non-verbal communication. ⚫︎When talking about sign language. It's commonly used in everyday conversation, formal speeches, and written text.

The word is typically written in: ⚫︎Hiragana: てぶり ⚫︎Kanji: 手振り There are no variations in okurigana.

⚫︎身振り (*miburi*): body language, gestures (a broader term than 手振り) ⚫︎ジェスチャー (*jesuchā*): gesture (loanword from English)

There aren't direct antonyms, but you could consider opposites in terms of communication methods. ⚫︎言葉 (*kotoba*): words, language ⚫︎口頭 (*kōtou*): oral, verbal

彼は相手に、手振りを交えて自分の意見を伝えた。 ・Translation: He conveyed his opinion to the other person, using gestures. ・Explanation: This sentence illustrates how 手振り can be used to show accompanying and emphasizing words spoken.

その先生は、説明する時に手振りをたくさん使う。 ・Translation: That teacher uses a lot of gestures when explaining things. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the teacher's communication style, emphasizing their use of non-verbal communication.

The word 手振り is composed of two parts: ⚫︎手 (*te*): hand ⚫︎振り (*furi*): swinging, waving, gesture (from the verb 振る *furu*, to wave, swing) Therefore, 手振り literally means "hand-swinging" or "hand-waving," representing the action of using one's hands to express something.