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

With the Sharks deep into a rebuild and coming off a 20-50-12 campaign, Celebrini is approaching his second NHL season with a high degree of optimism. —Chris Johnston, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025

But with the program’s trajectory shifting under Leipold, and Missouri coming off consecutive double-digit-victory seasons and bidding to become an SEC top-half regular, Border War meetings in this era should be competitive. —Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 7 Sep. 2025

At 28 years old, Elliott is coming off of a big season with the Steelers in 2024. —Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Sep. 2025

Silva is coming off a dominant performance at UFC 314, submitting Bryce Mitchell in the second round. —Trent Reinsmith, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 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