Firsthand

//ˈfɜːstˌhænd// adj, adv

adj, adv ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Direct, without intermediate stages. not-comparable

    "firsthand knowledge"

  2. 2
    Not previously owned or used; contrasted with secondhand. not-comparable

    "a firsthand copy"

Adjective
  1. 1
    received directly from a source wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    Directly or from personal experience. not-comparable

    "Hell and tarnations, I've known them for muddleheads and blockheads half my life, and firsthand, but I sure didn't expect them to take leave of their senses, insulting our office of President, making our Party into a white demagogue's party, slapping the Negro vote in the face."

Adverb
  1. 1
    from the original source; directly wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
primaryabsoluteadducibleadmissibleat first handat first hand

Example

More examples

"I got this information firsthand."

Etymology

From first + hand.

Related phrases

firsthand learning

More for "firsthand"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.