off the pace
idiom
US
: behind in a race, competition, etc.
The winner finished in 4 minutes, 30 seconds, and the next runner was three seconds off the pace.
Examples of off the pace in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Karl Darlow made a couple of important interventions during his 45 minutes in goal but Isaac Schmidt, who is likely to leave before the window closes, was a little off the pace and heavy with his touch after an injury lay-off to start pre-season.
—
Beren Cross, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2025
Red Bull looked far off the pace, especially Verstappen, who ended up finishing 14th in FP2.
—Nelson Espinal, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Aug. 2025
The team entered play Monday with a 52-53 record, eight games off the pace of the front-running Detroit Tigers in the American League Central but just three-and-a-half removed from the third and final wild-card spot.
—Dan Schlossberg, Forbes.com, 29 July 2025
That was a widespread opinion around baseball at the All-Star break, when the second-winningest MLB franchise since 1990 sat fourth in the NL East, 12 1/2 games off the pace, and ninth in the wild-card standings, a daunting 9 1/2 games back from the third and final playoff spot.
—David O'Brien, New York Times, 19 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for off the pace
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Beren Cross, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2025
Red Bull looked far off the pace, especially Verstappen, who ended up finishing 14th in FP2.
—Nelson Espinal, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Aug. 2025
The team entered play Monday with a 52-53 record, eight games off the pace of the front-running Detroit Tigers in the American League Central but just three-and-a-half removed from the third and final wild-card spot.
—Dan Schlossberg, Forbes.com, 29 July 2025
That was a widespread opinion around baseball at the All-Star break, when the second-winningest MLB franchise since 1990 sat fourth in the NL East, 12 1/2 games off the pace, and ninth in the wild-card standings, a daunting 9 1/2 games back from the third and final playoff spot.
—David O'Brien, New York Times, 19 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for off the pace
Cite this Entry
“Off the pace.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/off%20the%20pace. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share