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

Now, Levi’s, coming off a year with Beyoncé, might be its own toughest act to follow. —Evan Clark, Footwear News, 4 Aug. 2025

However, with Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki both slated for free agency after next season, the Cubs A) need to be thinking about their long-term outfield plans and B) have some big salaries coming off the books heading into 2027. —Peter Chawaga, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Aug. 2025

While the design in the rooms may come off as overly restrained, that minimalism plays well with the South Florida crowd, according to a local interior designer familiar with the project. —Lauren Mowery, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025

At 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, Scott has the size and speed coming off the edge to terrorize quarterbacks like Wyatt. —Dan Albano, Oc Register, 4 Aug. 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