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

March 30, 2015 was one of those spring days that Bostonians are used to, with cold temperatures and a little sun and a brisk wind coming off Dorchester Bay. —Martin J. Walsh, Boston Herald, 26 Oct. 2025

Justin Edwards came off the bench and hit three huge 3-pointers. —Tony Jones, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025

Those winds coming off the lake won't be frigid, because Lake Michigan's water is still fairly warm, Gehring said. —Hope Karnopp, jsonline.com, 26 Oct. 2025

Wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins have been productive, with Chase coming off a 16-reception game. —Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Oct. 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