different between offhand vs slipshod

English

Alternative forms

• off-hand

Etymology

From Middle English *ofhande, *ofhende, from Old English ofhende (“absent, lost”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *abahandijaz. Equivalent to off- +? hand. Cognate with Icelandic afhendur. Compare onhand.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /??f?hænd/
• Rhymes: -ænd

Adjective

offhand (comparative more offhand, superlative most offhand)

1. Without planning or thinking ahead.

2. Careless; without sufficient thought or consideration.

3. Curt, abrupt, unfriendly.

Synonyms

• (without planning): impromptu, extemporaneous, off-the-cuff; see also Thesaurus:impromptu

Translations

See also

• off the top of one's head

Adverb

offhand (comparative more offhand, superlative most offhand)

1. Right away, immediately, without thinking about it.
   • Offhand, I'd guess that that's a yellow-bellied sapsucker.
   • 1854, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Rose and the Ring:

     We will have no more of this shilly-shallying! Call the Archbishop, and let the Prince and Princess be married offhand!

2. In an offhand (adjective) manner.

Anagrams

• hand off, hand-off, handoff

English

Etymology

slip + shod (“wearing shoes”), originally "wearing slippers", "slovenly" is from early 19th century.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?sl?p.??d/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?sl?p.??d/
• Rhymes: -?d

Adjective

slipshod (comparative more slipshod, superlative most slipshod)

1. Done poorly or too quickly; slapdash.
   • 1880, Mark Twain, "The Awful German Language":

     Surely there is not another language that is so slipshod and systemless, and so slippery and elusive to the grasp.

   • 1999 Aug. 22, Johanna McGeary, "Buried Alive," Time:

     Newspapers pointed at greedy contractors who used shoddy materials, slipshod methods and the help of corrupt officials to bypass building codes.

2. (obsolete) Wearing slippers or similarly open shoes.
   • 1840, Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, Chapter 67:

     [T]hey wandered up and down hardly remembering the ways untrodden by their feet so long, and crying [...] as they slunk off in their rags, and dragged their slipshod feet along the pavement.

   • 1870, Bret Harte, "From a Back Window"

     That glossy, well-brushed individual, who lets himself in with a latch-key at the front door at night, is a very different being from the slipshod wretch who growls of mornings for hot water at the door of the kitchen.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:careless

Translations