back off

verb

backed off; backing off; backs off

intransitive verb

: back down

Synonyms of back off

• back down
• back out
• cop out

Examples of back off in a Sentence

you'd better not back off on your promise to do all the planning for the big dance

Recent Examples on the Web

But the president backed off after appeals from San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and tech executives, including Marc Benioff, the Salesforce CEO whose family name is attached to the Oakland children’s hospital. —Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 27 Jan. 2026

Healthy cells that still have their MGMT gene intact will simply pluck the methyl group back off. —Isabella Backman, Hartford Courant, 27 Jan. 2026

Wary Republican lawmakers, candidates and other figures had already begun mapping the fallout by taking a noticeable tone shift, either calling for investigations or suggesting the White House back off. —Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 26 Jan. 2026

McCoy dunked hard at the rim off the dribble, from a lob and even got a couple put-backs off his own misses. —Justin Vigil Zuniga, Daily News, 25 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1920, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for back off

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

Kids Definition

back off

verb

: back down