offline

adjective

off·​line ˈȯf-ˈlīn 

variants or less commonly off-line

1

: not connected to or served by a system and especially a computer or telecommunications system

One of the servers is offline.

… we suggest you keep a backup of your digital assets in offline storage, too. This storage can provide some cushioning if your online investment disappears in an instant.

—The Denver (Colorado) Post

also : done or occurring independently of such a system

our online and offline lives

offline activities/events

Movies and shows can be downloaded via the app for offline viewing.

—Dan Auty

2

of a person : not available (as for communication) especially by way of the Internet

She was having computer trouble, she told him, and would be offline for a while.

—Mark Warren

off-line adverb

Examples of offline in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Koretskyi declined to say what proportion of the country's gas production and storage capacities had been taken offline during this winter's attacks, citing operational security and Moscow's use of public statements and statistics to guide its strike campaign. —David Brennan, ABC News, 10 Dec. 2025

While the company has not broadly announced the change, the move reflects how viral micro-trends can spill offline—turning ordinary service moments into flashpoints for disruption. —Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2025

It also the vast offline archives of BBC programming and NBC News. —Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 10 Dec. 2025

Store backup codes safely offline, so criminals cannot reach them. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 9 Dec. 2025

Throughout the park, cellphone service is generally spotty, so your entire experience can be offline. —Mindy Sink, Denver Post, 7 Dec. 2025

How to stay safe online and offline The best defense is to delete your personal info from every sketchy site. —Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 5 Dec. 2025

Marty Supreme is Paltrow’s first movie gig in years, and the rise of intimacy coordinators was confusing for her in the same way Teams is weird for chronically offline co-workers. —Bethy Squires, Vulture, 4 Dec. 2025

The metaverse was a squishy concept, pitched to a populace that had just emerged from Covid lockdowns and wanted little more than to be around other humans offline, in real life. —Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 4 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1919, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for offline

• affine
• airline
• align
• aline
• assign
• baseline
• beamline
• benign
• bloodline
• bovine
• byline
• canine

Kids Definition

offline

adjective

off·​line ˈȯ-ˈflīn 

1

: not connected to or controlled by a computer

an offline printer

2

: not available (as for communication) especially by way of the Internet

she was offline all day

off-line adverb