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Meaning & use

thinking on your feet

phrase, noun·Everydayinformal

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UK/ˈθɪŋkɪŋ ɒn jɔː ˈfiːt/
US/ˈθɪŋkɪŋ ɑːn jɔːr ˈfiːt/

Meanings

  1. phraseidiominformal

    Making good decisions or giving clever answers quickly, without time to prepare, when something unexpected happens.

    Grammar: The pronoun matches the subject: I think on my feet, she thinks on her feet.

    Patterns

    • think on your feet
    • good at thinking on your feet

    Good teachers are skilled at thinking on their feet when a lesson goes wrong.

    The interviewer's surprise question forced her into thinking on her feet.

    Thinking on your feet is a useful skill for anyone who works in customer service.

  2. noununcountableinformal

    The ability to react quickly and cleverly to unplanned situations, treated as a skill someone has.

    Grammar: Used as a noun phrase, often as the subject: thinking on your feet matters in live events.

    Patterns

    • the skill of thinking on your feet

    The job calls for plenty of thinking on your feet.

    Improvisation classes train actors in thinking on their feet.

    Thinking on your feet saved him when the projector failed in the middle of his talk.

Word forms

base formthink on your feet
third person singularthinks on his or her feet
past tensethought on your feet

Common combinations

good at thinking on your feet
She is good at thinking on her feet in debates.
quick at thinking on your feet
Reporters need to be quick at thinking on their feet.
force someone to think on their feet
The question forced him to think on his feet.
learn to think on your feet
You learn to think on your feet in a busy kitchen.

Synonyms and how they differ

improvising
Improvising emphasizes making something up with no plan, while thinking on your feet stresses clever, quick decisions.
ad-libbing
Ad-libbing is mainly for speaking or performing without a script, so it is narrower.
adapting
Adapting is more general and can happen slowly, while thinking on your feet is immediate.
winging it
Winging it is more casual and suggests doing something with little preparation, perhaps carelessly.

Opposites

planning aheadover-preparing

Word family

think verb
to use the mind
thinker noun
a person who thinks, often in a certain way
quick-thinking adjective
able to react fast
on your feet phrase
standing, or in a fit state to act

Commonly confused: thinking on your feet or thinking outside the box?

thinking on your feet vs thinking outside the box

Thinking outside the box means finding creative ideas, which does not require speed, whereas thinking on your feet means reacting fast.

Practice

When the microphone stopped working, the host showed real skill at ______ and kept the audience entertained.

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