Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Not prepared in advance; impromptu.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective with little or no preparation or forethought; unrehearsed; extemporaneous; offhand.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective idiomatic
Extemporaneous ; without priorpreparation ;impromptu .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adverb without preparation
- adjective with little or no preparation or forethought
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word off-the-cuff.
Examples
-
Heads snapped to attention this month when the state attorney general, Paula Dow , said she had a police force—and the Supreme Court doesn't—in a seemingly off-the-cuff remark during a legislative budget hearing.
Court Decision Could Upend N.J. Schools Lisa Fleisher 2011
-
What you have left are simply the answers that each president offered, off-the-cuff and unscripted, to all questions.
Discourse.net: Style, Check. Now As to the Substance.... 2009
-
This is my off-the-cuff list of community management under the bonnet.
Community management under the bonnet: 23 things « Innovation Cloud 2009
-
A former White House chief of staff for President George H.W. Bush, Mr. Sununu described Mr. Gingrich as having a penchant for "self-aggrandizement" and "off-the-cuff thinking" that "is not what you want in a commander-in-chief."
Tough Talk as Romney Takes Aim at Gingrich Jonathan Weisman 2011
-
No. Just someone who allegedly made a stupid off-the-cuff insensitive remark according to an unsourced book based largely on hearsay and conjecture.
-
Let me see how they answer wall posts on Facebook or respond to off-the-cuff Skype chats or emails.
No, Charlie Gilkey isn’t a 90-year-old bricklayer named Blanche | Johnny B. Truant 2010
-
“Pure process, pure process,” he repeated to himself, under his breath, as though he was taking this off-the-cuff throwaway remark (meant to both fill the time and put him off) as something “profound.”
Ennui Christopher Snyder 2010
-
"Nobody should be forced to pay for anyone else's healthcare," is her off-the-cuff final answer.
Christine O'Donnell debates Chris Coons in Delaware - as it happened Richard Adams 2010
-
Anyhow … I love this post (and not just because of the inclusion in the ensemble) … my absolute favourite thought is the ‘little snippets of off-the-cuff, unrehearsed interaction that by themselves mean nothing, but which all together paint a surprisingly vivid picture.’.
No, Charlie Gilkey isn’t a 90-year-old bricklayer named Blanche | Johnny B. Truant 2010
-
One off-the-cuff decision I made has had wide-reaching ramifications.
Hot Girl On Girl Action In Our D&D Campaign? « Geek Related 2009
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.