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

Landrew came off the bench for the first time this preseason and used his physicality to get to the basket for a pair of layups in the first half while Oskar Giltay battled with 7-foot-4 Daniel Jacobsen down low. — Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 28 Oct. 2026

Ranked the top-scoring defense in the Big 12 and sixth nationally, the Horned Frogs (3-4, 1-3) are coming off another strong performance despite the 24-20 loss to the Mountaineers. — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Oct. 2026

Goodman is coming off starring roles on ABC’s The Conners and HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones and as a lead opposite Tom Cruise in the movie Digger. — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 28 Oct. 2026

The Wildcats, ranked in both the Associated Press and coaches’ polls, are coming off a 22-14 season that took them to the second round of the NCAA tournament. — Matt Murschel, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Oct. 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