offhand

English

Alternative forms

• off-hand

Etymology

From Middle English *ofhande, *ofhende, from Old English ofhende (“absent, lost”), equivalent to off- +‎ hand. Cognate with Icelandic afhendur. Compare onhand.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA: /ˌɔfˈhænd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ænd

Adjective

offhand (comparative more offhand, superlative most offhand)

1. without planning or thinking ahead

   She gave an offhand speech.

2. careless; without sufficient thought or consideration

   He doesn't realise how hurtful his offhand remarks can be.

3. curt, abrupt, unfriendly

   She was quite offhand with me yesterday.

Synonyms

• (without planning): impromptu, extemporaneous, off-the-cuff; see also Wikisaurus:impromptu

Translations

without planning or thinking ahead

• French: spontanément (fr), sur-le-champ (fr)
• German: schluderig (de), unüberlegt (de)

• Russian: бecцepeмoннo (ru) (beccepemonno)
• Spanish: indiferente (es)

careless

• French: négligent (fr)
• German: unvorsichtig (de), nachlässig (de)

• Spanish: descuidado (es)

curt, unfriendly

• German: unfreundlich (de)
• Scottish Gaelic: fionnar (gd)

• Spanish: frío (es)

See also

• off the top of one's head

Adverb

offhand (comparative more offhand, superlative most offhand)

1. right away, immediately, without thinking about it
   • Offhand, I'd guess that that's a yellow-bellied sapsucker.
   • 1854: William Makepeace Thackeray, The Rose and the Ring - We will have no more of this shilly-shallying! Call the Archbishop, and let the Prince and Princess be married offhand!
2. in an offhand manner

Anagrams

• hand off, hand-off, handoff