Alternative forms

• offn (US regional, English regional, Scotland)

Etymology

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#OFFCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#OFF of, from Old EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Old English#OFFCategory:English terms derived from Old English#OFF of, af, æf (“from, off, away”), from Proto-West GermanicCategory:English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic#OFFCategory:English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic#OFF *ab, from Proto-GermanicCategory:English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic#OFFCategory:English terms derived from Proto-Germanic#OFF *ab (“from”), from Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European#OFFCategory:English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#OFF *h₂epo (“from, off, back”). Doublet of ofCategory:English doublets#OFF.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɒf/, (obsolete) /ɔːf/Category:English 1-syllable words#OFFCategory:English 1-syllable words#OFFCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#OFF

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

    Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#OFF

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

    Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#OFF
• (General American) enPR: ŏf, IPA^(key): /ɔf/Category:English 1-syllable words#OFFCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#OFF

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

    Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#OFF
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ɒf/, [ɔːf]Category:English 1-syllable words#OFFCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#OFF
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ɑf/Category:English 1-syllable words#OFFCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#OFF
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ɔf/Category:English 1-syllable words#OFFCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#OFF
• Rhymes: (Received Pronunciation) -ɒf, (older Received Pronunciation, General American) -ɔːfCategory:Rhymes:English/ɒf#OFFCategory:Rhymes:English/ɒf/1 syllable#OFFCategory:Rhymes:English/ɔːf#OFFCategory:Rhymes:English/ɔːf/1 syllable#OFF

Adverb

off (not comparable)Category:English lemmas#OFFCategory:English adverbs#OFFCategory:English uncomparable adverbs#OFFCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#OFFCategory:Pages with entries#OFFCategory:Pages with 7 entries#OFF

1. In a direction away from the speaker or other reference point.

   He drove off in a cloud of smoke.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 46:

     No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or […] . And at last I began to realize in my harassed soul that all elusion was futile, and to take such holidays as I could get, when he was off with a girl, in a spirit of thankfulness.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFF

   • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     So this was my future home, I thought! […] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFF

   • 2019 September 27, Paul Vercammen, Steve Almasy, “ATF still looking to determine what caused deadly fire on California dive boat”, in CNN‎, archived from the original on 2 October 2019:

     The Conception caught fire around 3:14 a.m. on Labor Day off Santa Cruz Island, about 20 miles away from the coast of mainland California. It was the last day of a three-day diving trip.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFF

2. Into a state of non-operation or non-existence.

   Please switch off the light when you leave.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   The dinosaurs died off long ago.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

3. So as to remove or separate, or be removed or separated.

   He bit off the end of the carrot.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   Some branches were sawn off.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   Please take your clothes off so that I can examine you.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   • 2010, Jo Whittemore, Front Page Face-Off, page 113:

     The space had been sectioned off with colorful plastic shelves so that her textbooks rested on the bottom and her binders and personal effects lay across the middle.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFF

4. (theaterCategory:en:Theater#OFF) Offstage.

   noises off

5. Used in various other ways specific to individual idiomatic phrases, e.g. bring off, show off, put off, tell off, etc. See the entry for the individual phrase.

Adjective

off (comparative more off, superlative most off)Category:English lemmas#OFFCategory:English adjectives#OFFCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#OFFCategory:Pages with entries#OFFCategory:Pages with 7 entries#OFF

1. (predicative only) Inoperative, disabled.

   Antonym: on

   All the lights are off.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

2. (predicative only) Cancelled; not happening.

   The party's off because the hostess is sick.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

3. Not fitted; not being worn.

   Your feet will feel better once those tight boots are off.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   The drink spilled out of the bottle because the top was off.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

4. Denoting something faulty, unsatisfactory, objectionable etc.
   1. Not correct; not properly formed; not logical, harmonious, etc.

      This calculation is off: the numbers don't add up.

      Is it right to say 'the amount of cars'? It sounds off to me.

      The guitar isn't tuned properly. The bottom E is off.

   2. (predicative only) Inappropriate; untoward.

      I felt that his comments were a bit off.

   3. Less than normal, in temperament or in result.

      sales are off this quarterCategory:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   4. (in phrases such as 'off day') Designating a time when one is not performing to the best of one's abilities.
   5. (chiefly UKCategory:British English#OFF) Rancid, rotten, gone bad.

      Antonym: fresh

      This milk is off!Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   6. (by extension, AustraliaCategory:Australian English#OFF, slangCategory:English slang#OFF) Disgusting, repulsive, abhorrent.
5. (in phrases such as 'well off', 'poorly off', 'comfortably off', etc., and in 'how?' questions) Circumstanced.

   Our family used to be well off; now we're very badly off.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   How are you off for milk? Shall I get you some more from the shop?Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   • 2008, Kiron K. Skinner with Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Serhiy Kudelia, The Strategy of Campaigning:

     'Are you better off now than you were four years ago?' With that pointed question, Ronald Reagan defined the 1980 presidential election as a 92 referendum on Jimmy Carter's economic policies

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFF

6. Started on the way.

   off to see the wizardCategory:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   And they're off! Whatsmyname takes an early lead, with Remember The Mane behind by a nose.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   • 1922, James Joyce, chapter V, in Ulysses‎:

     —Hello, Bloom. Where are you off to?
     —Hello, M’Coy. Nowhere in particular.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFF

     Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
   • 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

     "But I'm off, Mr. Malone. We sit once a week and have done for four years without a break. Eight o'clock Thursdays."

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFF

   • 1990, Peter Pinney, The glass cannon: a Bougainville diary, 1944-45:

     Let them glimpse a green man coming at them with intent, and they're off like a bride's nighty. Even after capture some of them will seize every attempt to suicide — they just can't live with the tremendous loss of face.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFF

7. Far; off to the side.

   He took me down the corridor and into an off room.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   the off horse or ox in a team, in distinction from the nigh or near horseCategory:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   • 1937, Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Harper Perennial, published 2000, page 151:

     He came in, took a look and squinched down into a chair in an off corner and didn’t open his mouth.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFF

8. Temporarily not attending a usual place, such as work or school, especially owing to illness or holiday.

   John's off today. He's back on Wednesday.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

10. Designating a time when one is not strictly attentive to business or affairs, or is absent from a post, and, hence, a time when affairs are not urgent.

    He took an off day for fishing.  an off year in politics; the off season

    Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

11. (predicative only) Presently unavailable. (of a dish on a menu)

    I'll have the chicken please. — Sorry, chicken's off today.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

12. (BritishCategory:British English#OFF, in relation to a vehicle) On the side furthest from the kerb (the right-hand side if one drives on the left).

    Antonyms: near, nigh

    The off front wheel came loose.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

    • 1963, Jack Schaefer, Monte Walsh, page 174:

      The man and the horse came closer and were Sonny Jacobs of the Diamond Six and a smallish neat sorrel definitely favouring its off forefoot.

      Category:English terms with quotations#OFF

      Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
13. (cricketCategory:en:Cricket#OFF) In, or towards the half of the field away from the batsman's legs; the right side for a right-handed batsman.

    Antonyms: on, leg

14. (poker slangCategory:en:Poker#OFF) Offsuit.

Preposition

offCategory:English lemmas#OFFCategory:English prepositions#OFFCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#OFFCategory:Pages with entries#OFFCategory:Pages with 7 entries#OFF

1. Not positioned upon, or away from a position upon.

   He's off the roof now.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   I took it off the table.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   Keep off the grass.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

2. Detached, separated, excluded or disconnected from; away from a position of attachment or connection to.

   The phone is off the hookCategory:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   The coat fell off the peg.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   He was thrown off the team for cheating.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   We've been off the grid for three days now.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   We're off their radar.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   He's off the computer, but he's still on the phone.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

3. Outside the area or region of.

   The suspect is now believed to be off the campus.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   I couldn't see what it said because the line of text ran off the page.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

4. Temporarily not attending (a usual place), especially owing to illness or holiday.

   off work; off schoolCategory:English terms with usage examples#OFF

5. Used to indicate the location or direction of one thing relative to another, implying adjacency or accessibility via.

   His office is off this corridor on the right.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   We're just off the main road.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   Look! There's a UFO off our left wing!Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   1. Used to express location at sea relative to land or mainland.

      The island is 23 miles off the cape.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

6. Removed or subtracted from.

   There's 20% off the list price.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

7. No longer wanting or taking.

   He's been off his feed since Tuesday.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   He's off his meds again.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

8. (colloquialCategory:English colloquialisms#OFF, more properly 'from') Out of the possession of.

   He didn't buy it off him. He stole it off him.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

9. Placed after a number (of products or parts, as if a unit), in commerce or engineeringCategory:en:Engineering#OFF.

   I'd like to re-order those printer cartridges, let's say 5-off.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   • Tantalum bar 6 off 3/8" Dia × 12" — Atom, Great Britain Atomic Energy Authority, 1972
   • samples submitted … 12 off Thermistors type 1K3A531 … — BSI test report for shock and vibration testing, 2000
10. (slangCategory:English slang#OFF, drugs) Under the influence of.

    The guy was off a perc.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

11. (informalCategory:English informal terms#OFF) As a result of.

    The team won off a late-game fumble by an opposing player.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

    The economy is rising off the strength of the tech sector.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

Verb

off (third-person singular simple present offs, present participle offing, simple past and past participle offed)Category:English lemmas#OFFCategory:English verbs#OFFCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#OFFCategory:Pages with entries#OFFCategory:Pages with 7 entries#OFF

1. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#OFF, slangCategory:English slang#OFF) To kill.
   • 2017 September 19, Gwilym Mumford, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle review – spy sequel reaches new heights of skyscraping silliness”, in the Guardian‎:

     Most sorely missed is the relationship between Eggsy and Colin Firth’s delightfully avuncular mentor figure Harry Hart, who was offed, seemingly definitively with a bullet to the brain towards its end.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFF

2. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#OFF, SingaporeCategory:Singapore English#OFF, PhilippinesCategory:Philippine English#OFF, NigeriaCategory:Nigerian English#OFF) To switch off.

   Can you off the light?Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

Noun

off (uncountable)Category:English lemmas#OFFCategory:English nouns#OFFCategory:English uncountable nouns#OFFCategory:English uncountable nouns#OFFCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#OFFCategory:Pages with entries#OFFCategory:Pages with 7 entries#OFF

1. (usually in phrases such as 'from the off', 'at the off', etc.) Beginning; starting point.

   He has been very obviously an untrustworthy narrator right from the off.Category:English terms with usage examples#OFF

   • 2022 December 1, “2023 Royal Ascot suit ... are you ready for the off?”, in anthonyformalwear.co.uk‎, archived from the original on 24 January 2022:

     2023 Royal Ascot suit ... are you ready for the off?(title)

     Category:English terms with quotations#OFF

References

• off on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Further reading

• “off”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• FFO

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔf/Category:Central Franconian terms with IPA pronunciation#OFF

Etymology 1

Chiefly through GermanCategory:Central Franconian terms derived from German#OFF oft, from Middle High GermanCategory:Central Franconian terms derived from Middle High German#OFF ofte, from Old High GermanCategory:Central Franconian terms derived from Old High German#OFF ofta, from Proto-GermanicCategory:Central Franconian terms derived from Proto-Germanic#OFF *ufta.

Etymology 2

Etymology

From EnglishCategory:Cantonese terms borrowed from English#OFFCategory:Cantonese terms derived from English#OFF off.

Pronunciation

Verb

offCategory:Chinese lemmas#OFFCategory:Chinese verbs#OFFCategory:Chinese entries with incorrect language header#OFFCategory:Pages with entries#OFFCategory:Pages with 7 entries#OFF

1. (Hong Kong CantoneseCategory:Hong Kong Cantonese#OFF, intransitiveCategory:Chinese intransitive verbs#OFF) to have day off
2. (Hong Kong CantoneseCategory:Hong Kong Cantonese#OFF, transitiveCategory:Chinese transitive verbs#OFF) to switch off; to turn off

Adjective

off (indeclinable, predicative only)Category:German lemmas#OFFCategory:German adjectives#OFFCategory:German uncomparable adjectives#OFFCategory:German entries with incorrect language header#OFFCategory:Pages with entries#OFFCategory:Pages with 7 entries#OFF

1. (Internet slangCategory:German internet slang#OFF, especially video gamesCategory:de:Video games#OFF) clipping of offlineCategory:German clippings#OFF

   Coordinate term: on

   ich muss gleich off gehen

   i have to log off in a sec

   Category:German terms with usage examples#OFF

Etymology

From Old Limburgish ova, from Proto-GermanicCategory:Limburgish terms derived from Proto-Germanic#OFF *jabai.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔf/Category:Limburgish terms with IPA pronunciation#OFF
• Homophone: OffCategory:Limburgish terms with homophones#OFF
• Rhymes: -ɔfCategory:Rhymes:Limburgish/ɔf#OFFCategory:Rhymes:Limburgish/ɔf/1 syllable#OFF

Conjunction

offCategory:Limburgish lemmas#OFFCategory:Limburgish conjunctions#OFFCategory:Limburgish entries with incorrect language header#OFFCategory:Pages with entries#OFFCategory:Pages with 7 entries#OFF (EupenCategory:Eupen Limburgish#OFF)

1. (coordinating) or
2. (subordinating) Introduces an indirect question, a doubt. if, whether.
3. (off ... off) either ... or

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔf/Category:Polish 1-syllable words#OFFCategory:Polish terms with IPA pronunciation#OFF
• Rhymes: -ɔfCategory:Rhymes:Polish/ɔf#OFFCategory:Rhymes:Polish/ɔf/1 syllable#OFF
• Syllabification: [please specify syllabification manually]Category:Polish entries with Template:pl-pr without syllabification

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English off.Category:Polish terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#OFFCategory:Polish terms derived from Proto-Germanic#OFFCategory:Polish terms derived from Old English#OFFCategory:Polish terms derived from English#OFFCategory:Polish terms derived from Middle English#OFFCategory:Polish terms derived from Proto-West Germanic#OFFCategory:Polish terms borrowed from English#OFFCategory:Pages with etymology trees#OFFCategory:Polish entries with etymology trees#OFFCategory:Polish entries with etymology texts#OFFCategory:Pages using etymon with no ID#OFF Compare na offie.

Etymology 2

OnomatopoeicCategory:Polish onomatopoeias#OFF.

Further reading

• off I in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• off II in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• off III in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• off in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from EnglishCategory:Spanish terms borrowed from English#OFFCategory:Spanish unadapted borrowings from English#OFFCategory:Spanish terms derived from English#OFF off.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈof/ [ˈof]Category:Spanish 1-syllable words#OFFCategory:Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation#OFF
• Rhymes: -ofCategory:Rhymes:Spanish/of#OFFCategory:Rhymes:Spanish/of/1 syllable#OFF

Adjective

off (invariable)Category:Spanish lemmas#OFFCategory:Spanish adjectives#OFFCategory:Spanish indeclinable adjectives#OFFCategory:Spanish entries with incorrect language header#OFFCategory:Pages with entries#OFFCategory:Pages with 7 entries#OFF

1. off-screen
2. (theaterCategory:es:Theater#OFF) off-Broadway; minor-league; small-time

Further reading

• “off”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025