adj
Meaning 1
Without planning or thinking ahead.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- She gave an offhand speech.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
offhand
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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US: /ˌɔfˈhænd/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ænd
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CMU ARPABET: AO1 F HH AE1 N D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Careless; without sufficient thought or consideration.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- He doesn't realise how hurtful his offhand remarks can be.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Curt, abrupt, unfriendly.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- She was quite offhand with me yesterday.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adv
Meaning 4
Right away, immediately, without thinking about it.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- Offhand, I'd guess that that's a yellow-bellied sapsucker.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: out of hand
Antonyms: none provided
adv
Meaning 5
In an abrupt or unfriendly manner.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 6
casually thoughtless or inconsiderate
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- an offhand manner
- she treated most men with offhand contempt
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: offhanded
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 7
with little or no preparation or forethought
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- 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
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: ad-lib, extemporaneous, extemporary, extempore, impromptu, offhanded, off-the-cuff, unrehearsed
Antonyms: none provided
adverb
Meaning 8
in a casually inconsiderate manner
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- replied offhand, his mind a million miles away
- she threw him over offhandedly without even a Dear-John letter
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: offhanded, offhandedly
Antonyms: none provided
adverb
Meaning 9
without previous thought or preparation
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- couldn't give the figures offhand
- we decided offhand to go to Canada
- she had made these remarks offhandedly
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: offhanded, offhandedly
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English *ofhande, *ofhende, from Old English ofhende (“absent, lost”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *abahandijaz. Equivalent to (and re-formed as) off- + hand. Cognate with Icelandic afhendur. Compare onhand.
Across languages
Translations
40 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: импровизиран (improviziran) — without planning or thinking ahead
- French: spontané — without planning or thinking ahead
- French: sur-le-champ — without planning or thinking ahead
- German: schluderig — without planning or thinking ahead
- German: unüberlegt — without planning or thinking ahead
- German: spontan — without planning or thinking ahead
- German: unbesonnen — without planning or thinking ahead
- Ancient Greek: αὐτοσχέδιος (autoskhédios) — without planning or thinking ahead
- Portuguese: improviso — without planning or thinking ahead
- Spanish: indiferente — without planning or thinking ahead
- Spanish: espontáneo — without planning or thinking ahead
- Spanish: irreflexivo — without planning or thinking ahead
- Spanish: a vuelapluma — without planning or thinking ahead
- Turkish: hazırlıksız — without planning or thinking ahead
- Turkish: doğaçlama — without planning or thinking ahead
- Bulgarian: небрежен (nebrežen) — careless
- French: négligent — careless
- German: unvorsichtig — careless
- German: nachlässig — careless
- German: unüberlegt — careless
- German: unbesonnen — careless
- Russian: неосторо́жный (neostoróžnyj) — careless
- Spanish: descuidado — careless
- Spanish: insensato — careless
- Bulgarian: безцеремонен (bezceremonen) — curt, unfriendly
- German: unfreundlich — curt, unfriendly
- Polish: bezceremonialny — curt, unfriendly
- Russian: ре́зкий (rézkij) — curt, unfriendly
- Russian: гру́бый (grúbyj) — curt, unfriendly
- Russian: недружелю́бный (nedruželjúbnyj) — curt, unfriendly
- Scottish Gaelic: fionnar — curt, unfriendly
- Spanish: frío — curt, unfriendly
- Spanish: displicente — curt, unfriendly
- French: spontanément — without thinking about it
- German: schluderig — without thinking about it
- German: unüberlegt — without thinking about it
- German: spontan — without thinking about it
- German: unbesonnen — without thinking about it
- Spanish: espontáneamente — without thinking about it
- Spanish: a vuelapluma — without thinking about it