by the seat of your pants

Also found in: Acronyms.

by the seat of (one's) pants

Without a clear plan or direction. Often used in the phrase "fly by the seat of (one's) pants." I know my parents think that I'm just flying by the seat of my pants ever since I dropped out of college, but I just signed with a record label and am launching my singing career! After he said he wanted to build a wall through the middle of our back yard, it became clear that the architect was just flying by the seat of his pants. I really don't know how to operate this thing, I'm just going by the seat of my pants here!

by the seat of your pants

by instinct rather than logic or knowledge. informal

This expression was first used by pilots in the mid 20th century, in the form fly by the seat of your pants , meaning ‘fly a plane by relying on human judgement rather than navigational instruments’.

1977 Martin Walker National Front Mussolini had governed by the seat of his pants, guided in part by his early Socialism, in part by his…bombastic nationalism.

(fly) by the seat of your ˈpants

act without careful thought and without making a plan in advance, hoping that you will be lucky and successful: He made careful plans and then found that everything had changed at the last minute, so in the end he had to fly by the seat of his pants.This idiom was first used by pilots to describe flying by using the way the plane felt as a guide to its condition. The seat of your pants is the part of your trousers/pants that you sit on.