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

a television series that never came off

—TV Guide

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

• 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

Major potential UFAs like Mikko Rantanen and Leon Draisaitl came off the board months ago. —Carol Schram, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025

The Thunder are coming off an NBA championship boasting one of the best financial situations in the league. —Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 1 July 2025

Burr is coming off his Broadway debut starring alongside Kieran Culkin and Bob Odenkirk in David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, running from March through June. —Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 30 June 2025

At the time, he was viewed as the clear-cut No. 1 pick coming off a stellar season in Arizona. —Ricardo Klein, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 June 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