offhand as an adjective: - 1
- 2
as a adverb: - 1
- 2
offhand
adjective
1 offhand
With little or no preparation or forethought:
— Offhand excuses.
— Trying to sound offhanded and reassuring.
synonyms: ad-lib, extemporaneous, extemporary, extempore, impromptu, off-the-cuff, offhanded, unrehearsed.
Roget 458:
inattentive;
unobservant,
unmindful,
heedless,
unthinking,
unheeding,
undiscerning†;
inadvertent;
mindless,
regardless,
respectless†,
listless
etc.
(indifferent)
866;
blind,
deaf;
bird-witted;
hand over head;
cursory,
percursory†;
giddy-brained,
scatter-brained,
hare-brained;
unreflective,
unreflecting†,
ecervele [Fr.];
offhand;
dizzy,
muzzy†,
brainsick†;
giddy,
giddy as a goose;
wild,
harum-scarum,
rantipole†,
highflying;
heedless,
careless
etc.
(neglectful)
460.
inconsiderate,
thoughtless.
absent,
abstracted,
distrait;
absentminded,
lost;
lost in thought,
wrapped in thought;
rapt,
in the clouds,
bemused;
dreaming on other things,
musing on other things;
preoccupied,
engrossed
etc.
(attentive)
457;
daydreaming,
in a reverie
etc.
n.;
off one's guard
etc.
(inexpectant)
508†;
napping;
dreamy;
caught napping.
disconcerted,
distracted,
put out
etc.
v..
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Roget 460:
neglecting
etc.
v.;
unmindful,
negligent,
neglectful;
heedless,
careless,
thoughtless;
perfunctory,
remiss;
feebleness
etc.
575.
inconsiderate;
uncircumspect†,
incircumspect†;
off one's guard;
unwary,
unwatchful†,
unguarded;
offhand.
supine
etc.
(inactive)
683;
inattentive
etc.
458;
insouciant
etc.
(indifferent)
823;
imprudent,
reckless
etc.
863;
slovenly
etc.
(disorderly)
59,
(dirty)
653;
inexact
etc.
(erroneous)
495;
improvident
etc.
674.
neglected
etc.
v.;
unheeded,
uncared-for,
unperceived,
unseen,
unobserved,
unnoticed,
unnoted†,
unmarked,
unattended to,
unthought of,
unregarded†,
unremarked,
unmissed†;
shunted,
shelved.
unexamined,
unstudied,
unsearched†,
unscanned†,
unweighed†,
unsifted,
unexplored.
abandoned;
buried in a napkin,
hid under a bushel.
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2 offhand
Casually thoughtless or inconsiderate:
— An offhand manner.
— She treated most men with offhand contempt.
synonym: offhanded.
adverb
1 offhand
Without previous thought or preparation:
— Couldn't give the figures offhand.
— We decided offhand to go to Canada.
— She had made these remarks offhandedly.
synonyms: offhanded, offhandedly.
Roget 612:
extempore,
extemporaneously;
offhand,
impromptu,
a limproviste [Fr.];
improviso†;
on the spur of the moment,
on the spur of the occasion.
Roget 132:
early,
soon,
anon,
betimes,
rath†;
eft,
eftsoons;
ere long,
before long,
shortly;
beforehand;
prematurely
etc.
adj.;
precipitately
etc.
(hastily)
684;
too soon;
before its time,
before one's time;
in anticipation;
unexpectedly
etc.
508.
suddenly
etc.
(instantaneously)
113;
before one can say 'Jack Robinson',"
at short notice,
extempore;
on the spur of the moment,
on the spur of the occasion
[Bacon];
at once;
on the spot,
on the instant;
at sight;
offhand,
out of hand;
a' vue d'oeil [Fr.];
straight,
straightway,
straightforth†;
forthwith,
incontinently,
summarily,
immediately,
briefly,
shortly,
quickly,
speedily,
apace,
before the ink is dry,
almost immediately,
presently at the first opportunity,
in no long time,
by and by,
in a while,
directly.
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2 offhand
In a casually inconsiderate manner:
— Replied offhand, his mind a million miles away.
— She threw him over offhandedly without even a Dear-John letter.
synonyms: offhanded, offhandedly.
Moby thesaurus: Bohemian, abrupt, ad lib, ad libitum, ad-lib, affable, airily, airy, aloof, any old way, any which way, anyhow, at short notice, at sight, blase, brusque, bunglingly, by ear, by the by, by the way, careless, carelessly, casual, casually, cavalier, clumsily, cool, cordial, cursorily, cursory, curt, degage, devil-may-care, disregardant, disregardful, disregardfully, distant, easy, easygoing, en famille, en passant, extemporaneous, extemporaneously, extemporarily, extemporary, extempore, familiar, familiarly, flippant, folksy, forgetful, forgetfully, free and easy, glib, gracious, haphazardly, haymish, heedless, heedlessly, helter-skelter, hit and miss, hit or miss, homely, homey, impromptu, improvisatorial, improvise, improvised, improviso, in passing, inattentively, incidentally, inconsiderate, inconsiderately, indifferent, informal, informally, insouciant, irregular, jury-rigged, lackadaisical, lazy, light-hearted, loose, makeshift, messily, natural, naturally, nonchalant, oblivious, off the cuff, off the hip, off-the-cuff, offhanded, offhandedly, on sight, once over lightly, out of hand, parenthetically, perfunctorily, perfunctory, plain, plainly, promiscuously, reckless, recklessly, regardless, regardlessly, relaxed, relaxedly, respectless, sans ceremonie, simple, simply, slapdash, sloppily, smooth, sociable, spur-of-the-moment, stopgap, superficial, superficially, tactless, tactlessly, thoughtless, thoughtlessly, unaffected, unaffectedly, unassuming, unassumingly, unceremonious, unceremoniously, unconcerned, unconstrained, unconstrainedly, unconventional, undiplomatic, ungracious, unguardedly, unheedful, unheedfully, unheeding, unheedingly, uninterested, unmindful, unmindfully, unofficial, unofficially, unpremeditated, unprepared, unready, unrehearsed, unsolicitous, unsolicitously, unstudied, untactful, unthinking, unthinkingly, unvigilantly, unwarily, without ceremony ... show more.
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