off-the-cuff

[ awf-thuh-kuhf, of- ]

/ ˈɔf ðəˈkʌf, ˈɒf- /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR off-the-cuff ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

with little or no preparation; extemporaneous; impromptu: a speaker with a good off-the-cuff delivery.

Origin of off-the-cuff

First recorded in 1940–45

Words nearby off-the-cuff

off the air, off the beam, off the beaten track, off-the-board, off-the-books, off-the-cuff, off the deep end, off-the-face, off the ground, off the handle, off the hook

Dictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for off-the-cuff

Walters took the opportunity to lob some off-the-cuff softball questions.
Barbara Walters’s Final ‘The View’: A Tearful Farewell Befitting an Icon|Kevin Fallon|May 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
"I'm still crying," she quipped in the "off-the-cuff" (totally scripted) banter in the segment that followed.
New ‘X Factor’ Judges. Same Horrible, Boring, Ridiculous Reality Show|Kevin Fallon|September 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The uproar over Ferguson's off-the-cuff quip sent me back to reread it.
What I Wrote About Keynes|David Frum|May 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Twitter, as a chamber of instant reactions and off-the-cuff musings, is in some way a mirror of true character.
Twitter’s Winners and Losers|Nina Strochlic|December 29, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Spur-of-the-moment toasts can be an off-the-cuff pleasure if the mood is right and the message heartfelt.
Romney and Obama’s First Lunch: A Social Etiquette Guide|Kevin Fallon|November 28, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Idioms and Phrases with off-the-cuff

off the cuff

Impromptu, extemporaneous, as in His speech was entirely off the cuff. This term supposedly alludes to the practice of speakers making last-minute notes on the cuff of a shirtsleeve. [1930s]