Idiom meaning, usage examples, facts

1. Holly is a great speaker. Most people like to plan their speeches carefully in advance, but Holly prefers to speak off the cuff. Even so, her speeches are always a great success.
2. I can’t give you an exact figure for the number of students we have at the university, but off the cuff I’d say about 25,000.

Synonym: off the top of (one’s) head. Compare to: on the spur of the moment. Off the cuff is usually applied to speaking or writing. On the spur of the moment means that one makes a decision to do something suddenly and therefore without much preparation.