come off

verb

came off; come off; coming off; comes off

intransitive verb

1

a

: to acquit oneself : fare

came off well in the contest

b

: appear, seem

2

: succeed

His plans to start a business never came off.

3

: happen, occur

4

US, informal

—used in phrases like where do you come off? to express anger or annoyance at what someone has said or done

Marie was bent over the table now, reading, her piping girlish voice hot with indignation. "Where does she come off, anyway?"

—T. Coraghessan Boyle

transitive verb

1

: to have recently completed or recovered from

coming off a good year

2

: to have recently stopped using (an illegal drug)

an addict who is coming off heroin

Synonyms of come off

• happen
• be
• come
• come to pass
• occur
• come down

Examples of come off in a Sentence

couldn't believe that the wedding would actually come off—they've been “just dating” for years

the attempted revival of the city's downtown never really came off, and even more stores eventually closed

Recent Examples on the Web

When Dani Alves had to come off after 14 minutes, he was replaced by another — Martin Montoya (born in 1991) — to complete a full XI. — Laia Cervelló Herrero, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026

Screen vet Schrader, nominated for an Oscar for A24’s First Reformed and well known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese on classics like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, is coming off Venice Competition drama The Basics Of Philosophy. — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 16 Sep. 2026

Nick Pivetta, on the other hand, has pitched well in two starts since coming off the IL and appears ready. — Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026

Florida head coach Jon Sumrall will be looking to catch an Ole Miss team at the right time, with the Rebels coming off an unbelievably emotional week. — Mark Harris Outkick, FOXNews.com, 15 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1590, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Rhymes for come off

• cerenkov
• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff