offhand


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Related to offhand: Old Hands

off·hand

 (ôf′hănd′, ŏf′-)
adv.
Without preparation or forethought; extemporaneously: Offhand, I can't think of his name.
adj. also off·hand·ed (-hănd′ĭd)
Performed or expressed without preparation or forethought: an offhand suggestion.

off′hand′ed·ly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

offhand

(ˌɒfˈhænd)
adj, adv
1. without care, thought, or consideration; sometimes, brusque or ungracious: an offhand manner.
2. without preparation or warning; impromptu
ˌoffˈhandedly adv
ˌoffˈhandedness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

off•hand

(ˈɔfˈhænd, ˈɒf-)

adv.
1. cavalierly, curtly, or brusquely.
2. without previous thought or preparation; extempore.
adj.
3. informal, casual, curt, or brusque.
4. Also, off′hand′ed. done or made offhand.
[1685–95]
off′hand′ed•ly, adv.
off′hand′ed•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.offhand - with little or no preparation or forethought; "his ad-lib comments showed poor judgment"; "an extemporaneous piano recital"; "an extemporary lecture"; "an extempore skit"; "an impromptu speech"; "offhand excuses"; "trying to sound offhanded and reassuring"; "an off-the-cuff toast"; "a few unrehearsed comments"
unprepared - without preparation; not prepared for; "unprepared remarks"; "the shock was unprepared"; "our treaty makers approached their immensely difficult problems unprepared"- R.E.Danielson
2.offhand - casually thoughtless or inconsiderate; "an offhand manner"; "she treated most men with offhand contempt"
careless - marked by lack of attention or consideration or forethought or thoroughness; not careful; "careless about her clothes"; "forgotten by some careless person"; "a careless housekeeper"; "careless proofreading"; "it was a careless mistake"; "hurt by a careless remark"
Adv.1.offhand - without previous thought or preparation; "couldn't give the figures offhand"; "we decided offhand to go to Canada"; "she had made these remarks offhandedly"
2.offhand - in a casually inconsiderate manner; "replied offhand, his mind a million miles away"; "she threw him over offhandedly without even a Dear-John letter"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

offhand

adjective
1. casual, informal, indifferent, careless, abrupt, cavalier, aloof, unconcerned, curt, uninterested, glib, cursory, couldn't-care-less, apathetic, perfunctory, blasé, brusque, take-it-or-leave-it (informal), nonchalant, lackadaisical, unceremonious, offhanded Consumers found the attitude of its staff offhand.
casual serious, responsible, careful, intent, thoughtful, attentive
adverb
1. off the cuff (informal), spontaneously, impromptu, just like that (informal), ad lib, extempore, off the top of your head (informal), without preparation, extemporaneously I couldn't tell you offhand how long he's worked here.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

offhand

adjective
Spoken, performed, or composed with little or no preparation or forethought:
Informal: off-the-cuff.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
إرْتِجالاخَشِن، فَظ، مُرْتَجَل
fölényeskedõ
kæruleysislegur, ókurteisundirbúningslaust
ha deyincehemencecikkabanezaketsiz

offhand

[ɒfˈhænd]
A. ADJ
1. (= casual) he was very offhand about his achievementsno daba importancia a sus logros
"it was nothing," he said in an offhand manner-no fue nada -dijo como quitándole importancia
"it could have been worse," said Hamish, in an offhand tone-podría haber sido peor -dijo Hamish en tono despreocupado
his attitude to work/punctuality is very offhandse toma el trabajo/la puntualidad muy a la ligera
2. (= cavalier) → displicente
the next day he was very offhand with heral día siguiente estuvo muy displicente con ella
to treat sb in an offhand mannertratar a algn con displicencia
B. ADV (= without some thought) → sin pensarlo
I can't tell you offhandno te lo puedo decir así de pronto or sin pensarlo un poco or (LAm) así nomás
offhand, I'd say that there were around 40así, a ojo, diría que eran unos cuarenta
do you know offhand where the copies are kept?¿sabes por casualidad dónde se guardan las copias?
do you know her phone number offhand?¿te sabes de memoria su número de teléfono?
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

offhand

[ˌɒfˈhænd]
adj [person] → désinvolte
adv
I can't tell you offhand → Je ne peux pas vous le dire comme ça.
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

offhand

adj (also off-handed: = casual) remark, mannerlässig; to be offhand with somebodysich jdm gegenüber lässig benehmen; to be offhand about somethingetw leichthin abtun
advso ohne Weiteres, aus dem Stand (inf); I couldn’t tell you offhanddas könnte ich Ihnen auf Anhieb or so ohne Weiteres nicht sagen
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

offhand

[ˈɒfˈhænd]
1. adj (casual) → disinvolto/a; (curt) → sgarbato/a
2. adv I can't tell you offhandnon posso dirtelo su due piedi
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

off

(of) adverb
1. away (from a place, time etc). He walked off; She cut her hair off; The holidays are only a week off; She took off her coat.
2. not working; not giving power etc. The water's off; Switch off the light.
3. not at work. He's taking tomorrow off; He's off today.
4. completely. Finish off your work.
5. not as good as usual, or as it should be. His work has gone off recently
6. (of food) rotten. This milk has gone off – we can't drink it; (also adjective) That meat is certainly off.
7. out of a vehicle, train etc. The bus stopped and we got off.
8. cancelled. The marriage is off.
preposition
1. away from; down from. It fell off the table; a mile off the coast; He cut about five centimetres off my hair.
2. not wanting or allowed to have (food etc). The child is off his food.
3. out of (a vehicle, train etc). We got off the bus.
ˌoff-ˈchance noun
a slight chance. We waited, on the off-chance (that) he might come.
ˌoff-ˈcolour , (American) ˌoff-ˈcolor adjective
not very well. She's a bit off-colour this morning.
ˌoffˈhand adjective
acting or speaking so casually that one is being rude. offhand behaviour.
adverb
without thinking about something first. I can't tell you the answer offhand.
ˌoffˈhandedly adverb
ˌoffˈhandedness noun
ˌoffˈshore adjective
1. in or on the sea, not far from the coast. offshore oil-wells.
2. (of winds) blowing away from the coast, out to sea.
ˌoffˈside adverb
(in football, hockey etc) in a position (not allowed by the rules) between the ball and the opponents' goal. The referee disallowed the goal because one of the players was offside.
adjective
(of a vehicle etc) on the side nearest to the centre of the road. the front offside wheel.
ˌoff-ˈwhite adjective
not quite white, eg slightly yellow etc. an off-white dress.
badly, well off
poor, rich. The family was quite well off.
be off with you!
go away!.
in the offing
about to happen. He has a new job in the offing.
off and on / on and off
sometimes; occasionally. I see him off and on at the club.
the off season the period, at a hotel, holiday resort etc, when there are few visitors: It's very quiet here in the off season; adjective (etc)
off-season rates.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
He spoke in a very loud, offhand way, and I thought it very unlike him not to see about the shoe, as he was generally wonderfully particular about loose nails in our shoes.
Natasha suddenly shrank into herself and involuntarily assumed an offhand air which alienated Princess Mary still more.
With this idea I pressed him to read the beginning, and doing so, turning the Arabic offhand into Castilian, he told me it meant, "History of Don Quixote of La Mancha, written by Cide Hamete Benengeli, an Arab historian." It required great caution to hide the joy I felt when the title of the book reached my ears, and snatching it from the silk mercer, I bought all the papers and pamphlets from the boy for half a real; and if he had had his wits about him and had known how eager I was for them, he might have safely calculated on making more than six reals by the bargain.
The doctor was a little bearded man in white, with an offhand manner.
I would say, offhand, that it is a man who had a hopeless case of the peculiar New York disease of wanting to see and know.
The Frenchman, too, was excited, and after dinner the whole party talked long and seriously together--the Frenchman's tone being extraordinarily presumptuous and offhand to everybody.
Daylight was made to feel that she suspected him, and he, remembering that he had seen a big rock quarry near Blair Park, stated offhand that he was thinking of buying it.
He was handsome and bold and pleasant, offhand and gay and kind.
"I merely mean," said Will, in an offhand way, "that the Germans have taken the lead in historical inquiries, and they laugh at results which are got by groping about in woods with a pocket-compass while they have made good roads.
"There are fatalities," Monseigneur replied, in an offhand manner; "and the greatest men have sometimes fallen victims to such fatalities."
"Oh, I'm a lunger," Brissenden announced, offhand, a little later, having already stated that he came from Arizona.
A chap who can tell you offhand the difference between the outside of the world and the inside.