How to use offhand in a sentence

14 example sentences · adjective, adverb

Offhand means without planning or thinking ahead. Example: “She gave an offhand speech.”

Examples of offhand by meaning

adjectiveWithout planning or thinking ahead.

She gave an offhand speech.
He must also be fluent in obscenity, offhand in sex.1976 June 7, Nik Cohn, “Inside the Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night”, in New York Magazine

adjectiveCareless; without sufficient thought or consideration.

He doesn't realise how hurtful his offhand remarks can be.
In September 2019, on the papal plane en route to Mozambique, Francis acknowledged the sharp opposition he faced from conservative detractors in the United States in an offhand remark.2025 April 21, Jason Horowitz, Jim Yardley, “Francis, the First Latin American Pope, Dies at 88”, in The New York Times

adjectiveCurt, abrupt, unfriendly.

She was quite offhand with me yesterday.

adverbRight away, immediately, without thinking about it.

Offhand, I'd guess that that's a yellow-bellied sapsucker.

More sentences with offhand

She loved the way the lecturer stated it, offhand, but with the air of a pompatus.2000, Michael Ondaatje, Anil's Ghost, Picador,, →ISBN, page 140. From the entry pompatus
Can't remember tha author offhand, but can find out if anyone's interested.1993 June 16, Pete Clinch, “Jurassic Park”, in bit.listserv.cinema-l (Usenet). From the entry dinophilia
Gooding scarcely comprehends how it can be so offhand.2006 fall, Joe Ashby Porter, “Solstice”, in Michigan Quarterly Review, volume XLV, number 4, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan…. From the entry platonic love
Looking at Traveller, I’d say offhand that the two most alien major races are the K’kree and the Hivers.1998 December 11, Jeff Zeitlin, “Holy grail of SFRPGs? (re: traveller et al.)”, in rec.games.frp.misc (Usenet). From the entry rôleplay
But do we really want everything we’ve done online – offhand comments, camera-phone snaps or embarrassing surfing habits – to be preserved for posterity?2011 April 19, Sumit Paul-Choudhury, “Digital legacy: The fate of your online soul”, in NewScientist. From the entry preservationist
Viggo assumed a cheery offhand manner, but I could see that he was worried, doubtful as to the advisability of leaving me here alone.1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka, Eland, published 2019, page 36f. From the entry advisability
The air was full of laughter and greetings and kisses; light-hearted, offhand, gratulatory kisses which appeared to be the natural currency of felicitation.1921, Samuel Hopkins Adams, Success. From the entry gratulatory
He envisioned himself, before a crowded lecture hall, delivering a squelching witticism upon the head of a misgroomed, bepimpled sophomore, though he could not think of the remark offhand.2017, William Kamowski, Buckeye's Ballet, →ISBN. From the entry misgroom

Meaning of offhand

adjective Without planning or thinking ahead.
adjective Careless; without sufficient thought or consideration.
adjective Curt, abrupt, unfriendly.

Full definition of offhand

Questions about offhand in a sentence

How do you use offhand in a sentence?: Offhand is used as an adjective and adverb. For example: “She gave an offhand speech.”
What is a short sentence with offhand?: “She gave an offhand speech.”
What does offhand mean?: Offhand means without planning or thinking ahead.

Adapted from Wiktionary: offhand (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use offhand in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/offhand. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.