Meaning

3 senses
  1. Without planning or thinking ahead.

    She gave an offhand speech.

    schluderig, unüberlegt, spontan

  2. Careless; without sufficient thought or consideration.

    He doesn't realise how hurtful his offhand remarks can be.

    unvorsichtig, nachlässig, unüberlegt

    неосторо́жныйneostoróžnyj

  3. Curt, abrupt, unfriendly.

    She was quite offhand with me yesterday.

    unfreundlich

    ре́зкийrézkij, гру́быйgrúbyj, недружелю́бныйnedruželjúbnyj

More definitions
  • casually thoughtless or inconsiderate
  • with little or no preparation or forethought

Examples

5 sentences
  1. I cannot answer your request offhand.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · Dejo · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  2. I can't remember the date offhand.

    deAuf Anhieb fällt mir das Datum nicht ein.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · sundown · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  3. The villagers were offhand with us.

    ruСельчане были с нами грубы.

    deDie Dorfbewohner waren uns gegenüber kurz angebunden.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · sundown · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  4. I am unable to say anything offhand.

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  5. Now don't get upset. It was just an offhand remark.

    deNun reg dich nicht auf! Das habe ich doch nur so dahingesagt!

    CC BY · Tatoeba · sundown · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

7 languages
Русский
By meaning 2
careless:
curt, unfriendly:
Deutsch
By meaning 3
without planning or thinking ahead:
careless:
curt, unfriendly:

Origin

From Middle English *ofhande, *ofhende, from Old English ofhende (“absent, lost”), ultimat

From Middle English *ofhande, *ofhende, from Old English ofhende (“absent, lost”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *abahandijaz. Equivalent to (and re-formed as) off- + hand. Cognate with Icelandic afhendur. Compare onhand.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

more offhand, most offhand
Comparativemore offhand Lesson
Superlativemost offhand Lesson

regular

Synonyms

8 synonyms
without planning:impromptu
Close in meaning

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
offhand — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto