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

The Frenchman’s brace put his full skillset on display – the first coming off a diagonal run through the box and a first-time shot that went to the left and rolled past Senegal keeper Eduard Mendy. —Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 17 June 2026

Both tracks come off the band’s iconic 1993 effort Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). —Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 16 June 2026

The market is coming off another winning day. —Alex Harring, CNBC, 16 June 2026

Venable said Saturday the players’ expectations haven’t changed since spring training, despite coming off a 102-loss season in 2025. —Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 16 June 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