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

The second-year wing was coming off a solid performance in Saturday’s loss to San Antonio, scoring 10 points in 23 minutes and playing competitive defense against Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama. —Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 13 Jan. 2026

Plus, Sanders is coming off season-ending ankle surgery. —Mike Kaye january 12, Charlotte Observer, 12 Jan. 2026

The first-year head coach praised his players for their gritty performance, coming off two losses and going into halftime down 21-3. —Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 12 Jan. 2026

The Tigers, coming off back-to-back playoff appearances, have spent the offseason upgrading their roster. —Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 12 Jan. 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