"off the top of one's head" meaning in English

See off the top of one's head in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Prepositional phrase

Audio: En-au-off the top of one's head.ogg [Australia]
Head templates: {{head|en|prepositional phrase|head=}} off the top of one's head, {{en-PP}} off the top of one's head
  1. (idiomatic) In an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: offhandedly, on the spot Translations (in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation): (takhle) z fleku (Czech), juuri nyt (Finnish), suoralta kädeltä (Finnish), pikaisesti (Finnish), äkkiseltään (Finnish), de tête (French), comme ça (French), à froid (French), aus dem Stegreif (German), hasból (Hungarian), på ståande fot (Norwegian Nynorsk), på strak arm (Norwegian Nynorsk), z głowy (english: when no external sources were used) (Polish), bez zastanowienia (english: where some careful thought might be expected) (Polish), impromptu (Polish), de cabeça (Portuguese), навски́дку (navskídku) (Russian), экспро́мтом (eksprómtom) (Russian), a bote pronto (Spanish), på stående fot (Swedish), på rak arm (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-off_the_top_of_one's_head-en-prep_phrase-3C9QbLa- Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 46 54 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 47 53 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 48 52 Disambiguation of 'in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation': 99 1
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see off, top, head. Synonyms: off the top of one's dome Related terms: extemporize
    Sense id: en-off_the_top_of_one's_head-en-prep_phrase-ynag4iFP Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English hedges, English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 46 54 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 47 53 Disambiguation of English hedges: 15 85 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 48 52

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for off the top of one's head meaning in English (7.9kB)

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          "text": "I cannot think of any good examples off the top of my head, but give me a couple of hours and I'm sure I could come up with something.",
          "type": "example"
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          "ref": "1990, Ronald Inglehart, Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Society, Princeton University Press, page 130",
          "text": "Ideally, one would wish to explore them through a series of depth interviews extending over several months, rather than by a brief survey interview, which necessarily tends to elicit responses off the top of one's head.",
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        "(idiomatic) In an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation."
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          "word": "on the spot"
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          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
          "word": "(takhle) z fleku"
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          "_dis1": "99 1",
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        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
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          "_dis1": "99 1",
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        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
          "word": "äkkiseltään"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
          "word": "de tête"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
          "word": "comme ça"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
          "word": "à froid"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
          "word": "aus dem Stegreif"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
          "word": "hasból"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
          "word": "på ståande fot"
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          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
          "word": "på strak arm"
        },
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          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "pl",
          "english": "when no external sources were used",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
          "word": "z głowy"
        },
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          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "pl",
          "english": "where some careful thought might be expected",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
          "word": "bez zastanowienia"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
          "word": "impromptu"
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          "_dis1": "99 1",
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          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
          "word": "de cabeça"
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          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "navskídku",
          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
          "word": "навски́дку"
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          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "ru",
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          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
          "word": "экспро́мтом"
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          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "es",
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          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
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          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
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          "_dis1": "99 1",
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        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see off, top, head."
      ],
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        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "word": "off the top of one's dome"
        }
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  "word": "off the top of one's head"
}
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    "English prepositional phrases",
    "English terms with audio links",
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        "(idiomatic) In an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation."
      ],
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          "word": "offhandedly"
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        {
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    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "(takhle) z fleku"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "juuri nyt"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "suoralta kädeltä"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "pikaisesti"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "äkkiseltään"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "de tête"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "comme ça"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "à froid"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "aus dem Stegreif"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "hasból"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "på ståande fot"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "på strak arm"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "english": "when no external sources were used",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "z głowy"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "english": "where some careful thought might be expected",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "bez zastanowienia"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "impromptu"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "de cabeça"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "navskídku",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "навски́дку"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "eksprómtom",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "экспро́мтом"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "a bote pronto"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "på stående fot"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "in an extemporaneous manner; without careful thought, preparation, or investigation",
      "word": "på rak arm"
    }
  ],
  "word": "off the top of one's head"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-05 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.