come off as
idiom
: to seem to be (a specified quality or character)
He's really just shy, but he comes off as a little arrogant.
He came off as a stuffy old man.
Examples of come off as in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The effect doesn’t come off as gimmicky, but rather makes for a deeply poignant story, told largely in Fox’s own words.
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Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 9 May 2023
In any case, E.B. doesn’t come off as a character about to enter a chrysalis and emerge a butterfly.
—Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 20 Dec. 2021
But some bits, like Rogers missing his daughter’s recital while trying to seal the deal, come off as cliché.
—WIRED, 31 Mar. 2023
His evident pride in his films doesn’t come off as arrogant so much as affable, and even his humblebrags are couched in introspection.
—Adam Nayman, The New Yorker, 2 Feb. 2023
See all Example Sentences for come off as 
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 9 May 2023
In any case, E.B. doesn’t come off as a character about to enter a chrysalis and emerge a butterfly.
—Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 20 Dec. 2021
But some bits, like Rogers missing his daughter’s recital while trying to seal the deal, come off as cliché.
—WIRED, 31 Mar. 2023
His evident pride in his films doesn’t come off as arrogant so much as affable, and even his humblebrags are couched in introspection.
—Adam Nayman, The New Yorker, 2 Feb. 2023
See all Example Sentences for come off as
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'come off as.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Come off as.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/come%20off%20as. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.
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