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• off-the-cuff
  off-the-cuff

  adjective

  with little or no preparation; extemporaneous; impromptu.
• 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]

off-the-cuff

American  

[awf-thuh-kuhf, of-] / ˈɔf ðəˈkʌf, ˈɒf- /

adjective

1. with little or no preparation; extemporaneous; impromptu.

   a speaker with a good off-the-cuff delivery.

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off the cuff Idioms  

1. 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]

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Etymology

Origin of off-the-cuff

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

off-the-cuff off the cuff

He’s quick with ripostes, righteous in off-the-cuff remarks and has a do-gooder aura that never comes off as sanctimonious.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026

"We need more AI immigrants to help us on manufacturing floors and do work that maybe we've decided not to do anymore," said Huang, whose off-the-cuff remarks have become a popular CES tradition.

From Barron's ● Jan. 7, 2026

His work, like his life, seemed like a running improvisation, and the prose work that became “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” offers a nod to the author’s off-the-cuff sensibility.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025

Few people deliver more creative off-the-cuff insults than lawyers.

From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2025

We’ve all witnessed with embarrassment the off-the-cuff speaker crashing and burning at a wedding, or the panicky TV presenter “drying” on air.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

So no one should think this was just Sotomayor riffing off the cuff.

From Slate ● Apr. 10, 2026

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt suddenly announced it at the 1943 Casablanca conference as an aim of the World War II Allies, he did so off the cuff.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 12, 2026

When he speaks off the cuff it’s a gamble—he doesn’t know what he’s going to say either!—and gambles are exciting and diverting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026

"That was totally off the cuff," she said.

From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2025

The most effective off- the-cuff speeches are premeditated, and the best premeditated speeches appear off the cuff.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith