Synonyms

on the spur of the moment

Idioms

Impulsively, without prior preparation, as in He decided to join a tour to England on the spur of the moment. This expression alludes to the goading action of a spur to a horse. [Late 1700s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It's unclear whether this was on the spur of the moment out of frustration or something more calculated.

From BBC

Written on the spur of the moment, Leave Me Alone quickly became the obvious choice to launch Rapp's second album, Bite Me.

From BBC

The captain admitted his decision to field first on winning the toss was made on the spur of the moment.

From BBC

Stokes admitted his toss decision was made on the spur of the moment, influenced by the clouds that covered Hamilton on Saturday morning.

From BBC

This second group had no boat of their own, and appeared, to us, to be acting on the spur of the moment, presumably hoping to catch a ride on the other group's inflatable.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023