off-the-cuff
[ awf-thuh-kuhf, of- ]
adjective
with little or no preparation; extemporaneous; impromptu: a speaker with a good off-the-cuff delivery.
Origin of off-the-cuff
1First recorded in 1940–45
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
Other Idioms and Phrases with off-the-cuff
off-the-cuff
Impromptu, extemporaneous, as in His speech was entirely off the cuff. This term supposedly alludes to the practice of speakers making last-minute notes on the cuff of a shirtsleeve. [1930s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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