Offhand
[ɒf'hænd;'ɒfhænd] or [,ɔf'hænd]
Definition
(adj.) casually thoughtless or inconsiderate; 'an offhand manner'; 'she treated most men with offhand contempt' .
(adv.) in a casually inconsiderate manner; 'replied offhand, his mind a million miles away'; 'she threw him over offhandedly without even a Dear-John letter'.
(adv.) without previous thought or preparation; 'couldn't give the figures offhand'; 'we decided offhand to go to Canada'; 'she had made these remarks offhandedly'.
Typed by Andy--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Instant; ready; extemporaneous; as, an offhand speech; offhand excuses.
(adv.) In an offhand manner; as, he replied offhand.
Checker: Percy
Examples
- There is, of course, no infallible touchstone by which we can tell offhand. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Edison gave him one quick, searching glance and, detecting a bluff, replied in an offhand manner: There's a five-pound bottle in No. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- To-day such a crowd of working-men would be sure to include at least one student of a night school or correspondence course who would explain the mystery offhand. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Will here looked at Mr. Casaubon, who received this offhand treatment of symbolism very uneasily, and bowed with a neutral air. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- He was cordial with everybody, he was at once a host, with an easy, offhand hospitality that he had learned for Hermione's friends. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- It is too great a thing for me to decide offhand. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- I could not dream of sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- He had gone out to dinner; but his 'prentice (which is a very clever lad) sent 'em some medicine in a blacking-bottle, offhand. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- My friend threw out the information in a very offhand way, but I saw that he cocked his eye at me to see if I had followed his reasoning. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
Checker: Percy