on the cuff
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
done spontaneously without preparation
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Được thực hiện một cách tự phát mà không cần chuẩn bị
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: on the cuff of a shirt, as if jotting notes
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
He spoke on the cuff, impressing the audience with his wit.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “on the cuff” mean?
done spontaneously without preparation Literally: on the cuff of a shirt, as if jotting notes
Is “on the cuff” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.