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Definition of Offhand
1. Adverb. Without previous thought or preparation. "She had made these remarks offhandedly"
2. Adjective. With little or no preparation or forethought. "A few unrehearsed comments"
Similar to: Unprepared
3. Adverb. In a casually inconsiderate manner. "She threw him over offhandedly without even a Dear-John letter"
4. Adjective. Casually thoughtless or inconsiderate. "She treated most men with offhand contempt"
Definition of Offhand
1. a. Instant; ready; extemporaneous; as, an offhand speech; offhand excuses.
Definition of Offhand
1. Adjective. without planning or thinking ahead ¹
2. Adjective. careless; without sufficient thought or consideration ¹
3. Adjective. curt, abrupt, unfriendly ¹
4. Adverb. right away, immediately, without thinking about it ¹
5. Adverb. in an offhand manner ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Offhand
1. without preparation [adv]
Lexicographical Neighbors of Offhand
Literary usage of Offhand
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage by Inc. Merriam-Webster (1994)
"About offhanded there is little to be said except that it is a standard word
which was first recorded in 1835 and is used in much the same way as offhand, ..."
2. Free-hand Lettering by Victor T. Wilson (1912)
"How to Handle the Pen for offhand Lettering. ... Referring, for a time, in what
follows to the offhand letter, such as on Plates VIII and IX, ..."
3. Heroes and Heroines of Fiction: Modern Prose and Poetry by William Shepard Walsh (1914)
"To stumble upon a fine country house, to find in it a lady of exquisite beauty
and amazing intellectual qualifications, to many her offhand and bury her in ..."
4. Revised Record of the Constitutional Convention of the State of New York by New York (State). Constitutional Convention (1916)
"I could not say, offhand, whether there have been any. Hill is the only one, I
am now informed, Governor Hill. So, as a practical matter, during the history ..."