off the mark
idiom
: not accurate or correct : not achieving the desired result
Their estimates were completely off the mark.
His efforts to console her were off the mark.
Examples of off the mark in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In other words, criticism that the pipeline will merely substitute for the Ukraine transit line is simply off the mark.
—
Morena Skalamera, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2015
Three of those games were won by double-digits, and SRV was one point off the mark.
—Darren Sabedra, The Mercury News, 16 Feb. 2024
As for Neanderthal appearance, the stereotype of a muscled thug is not completely off the mark.
—James Shreeve, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
In fairness, for years, this assessment was not off the mark, and India’s reality did not match up to its vaunted potential.
—Alyssa Ayres, Foreign Affairs, 16 Oct. 2017
Those desperate to pin the wide-ranging failures of 2023 on single fall guy is understandable, yet entire time zones off the mark.
—Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Aug. 2023
The epigraph page alone gestures toward the Gospel of Luke, Cosa Nostra murders, communist atrocities and, for anyone still slow off the mark, Dachau, Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
—Louis Bayard, Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2023
Nevertheless, his attribution of blame for all of Congo’s initial instability and the subsequent corrupt dictatorship of President Joseph Mobutu to the CIA is wildly off the mark.
—Herman J. Cohen, Foreign Affairs, 15 Dec. 2014
The eight-speed automatic transmission performs admirably, but its preference for second gear starts when in Comfort mode exacerbates the engine's initial turbo lag, and renders the S5 sleepy off the mark.
—Becca Hackett, Car and Driver, 29 June 2023
Morena Skalamera, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2015
Three of those games were won by double-digits, and SRV was one point off the mark.
—Darren Sabedra, The Mercury News, 16 Feb. 2024
As for Neanderthal appearance, the stereotype of a muscled thug is not completely off the mark.
—James Shreeve, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
In fairness, for years, this assessment was not off the mark, and India’s reality did not match up to its vaunted potential.
—Alyssa Ayres, Foreign Affairs, 16 Oct. 2017
Those desperate to pin the wide-ranging failures of 2023 on single fall guy is understandable, yet entire time zones off the mark.
—Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Aug. 2023
The epigraph page alone gestures toward the Gospel of Luke, Cosa Nostra murders, communist atrocities and, for anyone still slow off the mark, Dachau, Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
—Louis Bayard, Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2023
Nevertheless, his attribution of blame for all of Congo’s initial instability and the subsequent corrupt dictatorship of President Joseph Mobutu to the CIA is wildly off the mark.
—Herman J. Cohen, Foreign Affairs, 15 Dec. 2014
The eight-speed automatic transmission performs admirably, but its preference for second gear starts when in Comfort mode exacerbates the engine's initial turbo lag, and renders the S5 sleepy off the mark.
—Becca Hackett, Car and Driver, 29 June 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'off the mark.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near off the mark
Cite this Entry
“Off the mark.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/off%20the%20mark. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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