put off

verb

put off; putting off; puts off

transitive verb

1

a

: disconcert

b

: repel

2

a

: to hold back to a later time

b

: to induce to wait

put the bill collector off

3

: to rid oneself of : take off

4

: to sell or pass fraudulently

Synonyms

• postpone
• delay
• put over
• defer

Examples of put off in a Sentence

never put off until tomorrow what you can do today

put off your coat and stay awhile

Recent Examples on the Web

When bourbon slumped in the 1980s, many distilleries put off repairs to their stills, which caused plenty of problems. —Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 12 Sep. 2025

Speedrunners have also found some arcane sequence skips to get around certain bosses or methods for putting off some boss fights until later than the developers intended. —ArsTechnica, 11 Sep. 2025

Moreover, Laura is also put off by Cherry’s vague answers regarding her upbringing. —Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 10 Sep. 2025

The postponement allows Kering to put off extra debt. —Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 10 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for put off

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

Kids Definition

put off

verb

1

: to cause negative feelings in

your sloppy appearance put them off

2

: to hold back to a later time : defer

put off my visit to the dentist

3

: to rid oneself of

put off your coat