off year

noun

1
: a year in which no major election is held
2
: a year of diminished activity or production
an off year for auto sales

Examples of off year in a Sentence

It has been an off year for auto sales.
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Garvey had an off year, for him, in 1982, hitting .282 with 16 homers, good for a 101 OPS+. Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025 With turnout extraordinarily high for a spring election in an off year, Judge Susan Crawford handily beat Judge Brad Schimel, who ran on his loyalty to President Trump and was aided by Mr. Musk, the president’s billionaire policy aide. Reid J. Epstein, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2025 The news immediately turbocharged Warby Parker’s stock price, which is up a little short of a fifth since the announcement after a challenging year to date which means that despite the boost the value is still around 11% off year to date. Mark Faithfull, Forbes.com, 12 June 2025 For example, left-wing advocacy groups and media companies dropped spending on Meta, which owns platforms like Facebook and Instagram, by 75 percent in off years between 2020 and 2025, according to the research. Julia Mueller, The Hill, 4 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for off year

Word History

First Known Use

1870, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of off year was in 1870

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Cite this Entry

“Off year.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/off%20year. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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