off-the-cuff

See also: off the cuff

English

Etymology

From the prepositional phrase off the cuff.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

Adjective

off-the-cuff (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) Extemporaneous; without prior preparation; spontaneous; impromptu.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:impromptu

   He made a few off-the-cuff remarks before launching into his prepared speech.

   • 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^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 5 January 2026:

     Off-the-Cuff Obama Line Put U.S. in Bind on Syria [title]

   • 2017 June 4, Peter Baker, “Trump’s Off-the-Cuff Tweets Strain Foreign Ties”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 9 August 2025:

     Trump’s Off-the-Cuff Tweets Strain Foreign Ties [title]

   • 2021 October 2, John Herrman, “Will TikTok Make You Buy It?”, in The New York Times‎^[3], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 October 2025:

     Even when people are trying to sell you something, their messages seem off-the-cuff, like trustworthy recommendations rather than sponsored shilling.

Translations

off-the-cuff

• Finnish: lonkalta (adverb), suoralta kädeltä (adverb)
• French: spontané (fr), improvisé (fr)
• German: spontan (de), aus dem Stegreif, aus dem Stand, aus dem Handgelenk (de), Stegreif-, aus dem Ärmel geschüttelt, aus dem Hemdsärmel
• Greek: αυθόρμητος (el) (afthórmitos)
• Polish: spontaniczny (pl), zaimprowizowany
• Spanish: improvisado (es), espontáneo (es)