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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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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
While acknowledging where his team is lacking, Sweeney didn’t back off the belief in his team.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 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
While acknowledging where his team is lacking, Sweeney didn’t back off the belief in his team.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for back off
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back off
Verb
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China has been one of the few countries that hasn't backed down, relying on its economic clout.—
NPR,
NPR,
12 Oct. 2025
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China has been one of the few countries that hasn’t backed down, relying on its economic clout.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Plus, the captain tells Lo that the passenger assigned to cabin 10 backed out days before departure.—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Oct. 2025
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But the ocean spits her back out.—
Matthew Jacobs,
Vulture,
10 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 19 Oct. 2025.
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