[
UK
/ˈɒfhænd/
]
[ US /ˈɔfˈhænd/ ]
[ US /ˈɔfˈhænd/ ]
ADVERB
-
in a casually inconsiderate manner
she threw him over offhandedly without even a Dear-John letter
replied offhand, his mind a million miles away -
without previous thought or preparation
she had made these remarks offhandedly
we decided offhand to go to Canada
couldn't give the figures offhand
ADJECTIVE
-
with little or no preparation or forethought
his ad-lib comments showed poor judgment
offhand excuses
an extemporary lecture
an extempore skit
a few unrehearsed comments
trying to sound offhanded and reassuring
an off-the-cuff toast
an extemporaneous piano recital
an impromptu speech -
casually thoughtless or inconsiderate
an offhand manner
she treated most men with offhand contempt
How To Use offhand In A Sentence
- His offhand manner put my back up.
- an offhand manner
- Rebecca "brings the vitality of herself -- her offhand sense of her own consequence"; Mizzy "feels like a fantasy he's having, his own dream of self, made manifest to others"; Peter exhibits an artist whose video installations show ordinary citizens in repeated commonplace actions, but these figures "do, of course, each of them, carry within them a jewel of self, not just the wounds and the hopes but an innerness. Alan Hollinghurst On Michael Cunningham
- Consumers found the attitude of its staff offhand and generally offensive to the paying customer.
- `Oh, things could be worse," said Hunter, doing his best to imitate Yoller's offhand, sophisticated tone. THE ANCIENT AND SOLITARY REIGN
- Consumers found the attitude of its staff offhand and generally offensive to the paying customer.
- As with O'Reilly, offhand dismissal of critics is not a good practice for any business, organization, group, or individual.
- I'm not sure, but offhand it seems to fulfill the criteria of the definitions offered by Bennett.
- The best example I can think of offhand is from Michael Marshall Smith's Only Forward. On Prologues
- In his offhand way, DeLillo teaches many important lessons in Libra, including certain etymologies, for instance the relationship in Arabic between the words assassin and hashish (on page 342). Confusion and Turbulence
