If a remark or reply is off-the-cuff, you make it in the moment. You have not written it down. You have not practised it. You have not sat with the question first. The words come out as you think them. People use this most about speech: an off-the-cuff joke, an off-the-cuff answer to a reporter, an off-the-cuff toast at a wedding. It can feel warm and human, because it sounds like a real person, not a script. It can also land badly, because nobody has checked it. Teachers, bosses, and politicians often call an answer off-the-cuff when they want you to forgive a rough or messy line. Though actually, some “off-the-cuff” lines are practised until they only look sudden. The word is about preparation, not about being rude, and not about keeping a secret. A planned speech can still be kind; an off-the-cuff one can still be sharp. Informal to neutral. You will hear it in news, offices, and everyday talk. As an adverb, people also say they spoke off the cuff, with or without the hyphens.