seat-of-the-pants

English

Etymology

From seat + of + the + pants.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Adjective

seat-of-the-pants (not comparable)

1. (chiefly US, idiomatic) Done by feel, guess, or trial and error rather than by careful planning, thought or technique.
   • 1984 January 9, Charles Alexander, Frederick Ungeheuer, “The Billion-Dollar Boys”, in Time:

     The new pension-fund managers are an eclectic group, displaying a spectrum of styles and strategies. Some rely chiefly on computers and charts, while others are more likely to trust their seat-of-the-pants judgment.

Related terms

• fly by the seat of one's pants