Meanings
- idiomaticnot comparableExtemporaneous; without prior preparation; spontaneous; impromptu.
He made a few off-the-cuff remarks before launching into his prepared speech.
3 more examples
Off-the-Cuff Obama Line Put U.S. in Bind on Syria [title]
2013 May 5, Peter Baker, Mark Landler, David E. Sanger, Anne Barnard, “Off-the-Cuff Obama Line Put U.S. in Bind on Syria”, in The New York Times, →ISSNTrump’s Off-the-Cuff Tweets Strain Foreign Ties [title]
2017 June 4, Peter Baker, “Trump’s Off-the-Cuff Tweets Strain Foreign Ties”, in The New York Times, →ISSNEven when people are trying to sell you something, their messages seem off-the-cuff, like trustworthy recommendations rather than sponsored shilling.
2021 October 2, John Herrman, “Will TikTok Make You Buy It?”, in The New York Times, →ISSNSynonyms: ad lib, extemporal, extemporary, extemporaneous, extempore, extemporized, gash, impromptu
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveExtemporaneous; without prior preparation; spontaneous; impromptu.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivewith little or no preparation or forethought
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From the prepositional phrase off the cuff.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish lonkalta, suoralta kädeltä
- lonkaltaoff-the-cuff
- suoralta kädeltäoff-the-cuff
French spontané, improvisé
- spontanéoff-the-cuff
- improviséoff-the-cuff
German spontan, aus dem Stegreif
- spontanoff-the-cuff
- aus dem Stegreifoff-the-cuff
- aus dem Standoff-the-cuff
- aus dem Handgelenkoff-the-cuff
- Stegreif-off-the-cuff
- aus dem Ärmel geschütteltoff-the-cuff
- aus dem Hemdsärmeloff-the-cuff
Greek αυθόρμητος
- αυθόρμητος (afthórmitos)off-the-cuff
Polish spontaniczny, zaimprowizowany
- spontanicznyoff-the-cuff
- zaimprowizowanyoff-the-cuff
Spanish improvisado, espontáneo
- improvisadooff-the-cuff
- espontáneooff-the-cuff
Cite this entry
off-the-cuff. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/off-the-cuff
“off-the-cuff.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/off-the-cuff. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “off-the-cuff,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/off-the-cuff.
Source: off-the-cuff on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.