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

As Atlanta comes off its World Cup high, MARTA may be slipping back into its malaise. — Doug Turnbull, AJC.com, 2 Aug. 2026

While three of those four are not pitching (Ohtani has a left knee issue, Snell is coming off elbow surgery and Glasnow missed months with back spasms), all three are expected to return before October. — Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2026

Second baseman Amira Hondras, coming off a strong women’s baseball World Cup debut last week, tied the game in the at-bat prior with a single up the middle to set up Villareal’s heroics. — Marisa Ingemi, Los Angeles Times, 2 Aug. 2026

Other than Messi, other Miami players who came off the bench Saturday were David Ayala and David Ruiz, who replaced Bright and Mura in the 75th minute and Preston Plambeck, who went in for Silvetti at the 86-minute mark. — Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 2 Aug. 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