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

Sluggish start The Horned Frogs looked more rusty than rested coming off the bye week as TCU trailed Iowa State 6-3 at halftime. —Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Nov. 2025

Meanwhile, up north, the 6-2 Seahawks are coming off an authoritative victory over the Washington Commanders last week and will try to extend their win streak to four games and hang onto their spot atop the division. —Mike Jones, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2025

The sophomore from Detroit came off the edge to force a Fifita fumble. —Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 9 Nov. 2025

Senior Taylor Rath come off the bench to play in goal for the Aggies during the shootout, making a pair of saves for the 4-2 advantage. —Rachel Roberts, Idaho Statesman, 9 Nov. 2025

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