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

Both teams enter the contest coming off losses to Power Four opponents. — Michael Harley, Arkansas Online, 23 Sep. 2026

Musically, Drake is coming off releasing three albums in May, as his ICEMAN LP topped the Billboard 200, while HABIBTI and MAID OF HONOUR followed suit in the second and third slots. — Michael Saponara, Billboard, 23 Sep. 2026

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is coming off back-to-back record closes. — Jeff Marks, CNBC, 23 Sep. 2026

Ortiz’s 37th homer came off Chris Archer and raised his RBIs total to 124, one more than Shoeless Joe Jackson in 1920. — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 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