seat-of-the-pants

American  

[seet-uhv-thuh-pants] / ˈsit əv ðəˈpænts /

adjective

1. using or based on experience, instinct, or guesswork.

   a seat-of-the-pants management style.

2. done without the aid of instruments.

   The pilot made a seat-of-the-pants landing.

---

Etymology

Origin of seat-of-the-pants

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

So is defeatism, as well as seat-of-the-pants policymaking.

From The Wall Street Journal

But Wings’ initial tour, which began in 1972, was deft and a triumph of seat-of-the-pants improvisation.

From The Wall Street Journal

Bruckheimer remembers the shoot as tough but exhilarating, a product of Scott’s notoriously seat-of-the-pants directing style.

From Los Angeles Times

Then, since they don’t use any actual method or research for those judgments, it’s entirely their seat-of-the-pants opinion about what Americans would do.

From Slate

In these journals — a collection of notebooks in Biden’s case — they confide to themselves, express raw opinions, trace even the humdrum habits of their day and offer seat-of-the-pants insight on monumental decisions of their time.

From Seattle Times