as in to back down
to break a promise or agreement
you'd better not back off on your promise to do all the planning for the big dance
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Recent Examples of back off
Yes, the members of season 27’s cast are almost all playing the game poorly, backing off from big moves out of fear or changing their minds at the last moment to vote out their own allies.
—
Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2025
Small and mid-sized countries that were energetically pursuing Security Council reform have backed off and are waiting for a clear signal of what—if anything—Trump will say about it.
—Richard Gowan, Time, 22 Sep. 2025
Tight end Adam Trautman flexed back off the line of scrimmage.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 22 Sep. 2025
Microsoft backed off on almost all of Windows 8’s design decisions in the following years after the dramatic UI shift proved unpopular with traditional mouse-and-keyboard users, but touchscreen PCs like Microsoft’s Surface lineup have persisted even as the software has changed.
—Andrew Cunningham, ArsTechnica, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for back off
Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2025
Small and mid-sized countries that were energetically pursuing Security Council reform have backed off and are waiting for a clear signal of what—if anything—Trump will say about it.
—Richard Gowan, Time, 22 Sep. 2025
Tight end Adam Trautman flexed back off the line of scrimmage.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 22 Sep. 2025
Microsoft backed off on almost all of Windows 8’s design decisions in the following years after the dramatic UI shift proved unpopular with traditional mouse-and-keyboard users, but touchscreen PCs like Microsoft’s Surface lineup have persisted even as the software has changed.
—Andrew Cunningham, ArsTechnica, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for back off
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back off
Verb
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The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is not backing down in its fight against National Public Radio.—
Max Tani,
semafor.com,
27 Oct. 2025
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Examples include huge catching nets, or docking with stray objects to force them back down into Earth's atmosphere.—
Elizabeth Howell,
Space.com,
26 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Friends and family fully lean into it — sending Holly into the stall when things aren’t looking good, only calling her back out for the action once the team starts turning things around.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
PEOPLE,
19 Oct. 2025
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Such was not the case in 2021, when UCLA backed out five hours before kickoff against North Carolina State.—
Kirk Kenney,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
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On Thursday, there were 652 officers on the force, with nearly 100 cops out on some kind of administrative or medical leave.—
Shomik Mukherjee,
Mercury News,
8 Aug. 2025
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But with that brief wave of hope came new footage on Twitter every night of the NYPD acting like bad cops out of a Harvey Keitel flick: cops harassing peaceful crowds, cops kettling activists, cops literally driving a car into a crowd of protestors.—
Maris Kreizman,
Rolling Stone,
24 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Back off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/back%20off. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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