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Offhand vs Passing - What's the difference?

offhand | passing | Related terms |

Offhand is a related term of passing.


As adjectives the difference between offhand and passing

is that offhand is without planning or thinking ahead while passing is that passes away; ephemeral.

As adverbs the difference between offhand and passing

is that offhand is right away, immediately, without thinking about it while passing is .

As a verb passing is

.

As a noun passing is

death, dying; the end of something.

offhand

English

Alternative forms

* off-hand

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • without planning or thinking ahead
    • She gave an offhand speech.
  • careless; without sufficient thought or consideration
    • He doesn't realise how hurtful his offhand remarks can be.
  • curt, abrupt, unfriendly
    • She was quite offhand with me yesterday.

    Synonyms

    * (without planning) impromptu, extemporaneous, off-the-cuff; see also

    See also

    * off the top of one's head

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • 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 !
  • in an offhand manner

    • Anagrams

    *

    passing

    English

    Verb

    (head)

    • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • That passes away; ephemeral.
  • * 1814 , (Lord Byron), Lara , I.15:
    • And solace sought he none from priest nor leech, / And soon the same in movement and in speech / As heretofore he fill'd the passing hours
  • * 2010 , Marianne Kirby, The Guardian , 21 Sep 2010:
    • It might be possible to dismiss
  • dittowatch as just another passing internet fancy. After all, hashtags are ephemeral.
  • * Shakespeare
    • her passing deformity
  • * 1835 , (Washington Irving), The Crayon Miscellany :
    • It was by dint of passing strength, / That he moved the massy stone at length.
  • * 1847 , Robert Holmes, The Case of Ireland Stated :
    • That parliament was destined, in one short hour of convulsive strength, in one short hour of passing glory, to humble the pride and alarm the fears of England.
  • vague, cursory.
  • * 2011 , Stewart J Lawrence, The Guardian , 14 Jun 2011:
    • Ardent pro-lifer Rick Santorum made one passing reference to "authenticity" as a litmus test for a conservative candidate, but if he was obliquely referring to Romney (and he was), you could be excused for missing the dig.
  • going past - passing cars.

    • Adverb

    (-)
  • * 1813 , (Percy Bysshe Shelley), Queen Mab , I:
    • One, pale as yonder waning moon, / With lips of lurid blue; / The other, rosy as the morn / When throned on ocean's wave, / It blushes o'er the world: / Yet both so passing wonderful!
  • * 2010 , Simon Hattenstone, The Guardian , 30 Oct 2010:
    • ‘I find it passing strange that convicts understand honest folk, but honest folk don't understand convicts.’

    Usage notes

    * This use is sometimes misconstrued as meaning "vaguely" or "slightly" (perhaps by confusion with such phrases as "passing fancy", under Adjective, above), leading to formations such as "more than passing clever" etc.

    Noun

  • Death, dying; the end of something.
  • The fact of going past; a movement from one place to another or a change from one state to another.
  • * (Oliver Onions), The Story of Louie
    • And since he did not see Louie by the folding door, Louie knew that in his former passings and repassings he could not have seen her either.
  • (legal) The act of approving a bill etc.
  • (sports) The act of passing a ball etc. to another player.
  • A form of juggling where several people pass props between each other, usually clubs or rings.