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

Consistent in graded company, McAfee comes off a runner-up effort in the West Virginia Derby (G3). —Jared Welch, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025

Indeed, the response to Coppola’s cross-country tour came off less like the beginnings of an underground fan base, and more like a film community tolerating an auteur’s exhaustive defense of his work. —Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 18 Aug. 2025

The Bears are coming off a 38-0 victory over the Buffalo Bills in their second preseason game. —Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 18 Aug. 2025

Moore came off the bench in all three games, getting five plate appearances. —Jeff Fletcher, Oc Register, 17 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