held off (on)

verb

past tense of hold off (on)
as in postponed
to assign to a later time we held off on accepting the invitation in the hopes that something better would come along

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for held off (on)
  1. postponed
  2. delayed
  3. deferred
Verb
  • Brook was set to face Eisa Al Dah in Dubai in a bout raising money for the Ricky Hatton Foundation, but the event was postponed and never rescheduled.
    — Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The protests over the shooting led to several nearby community events being canceled or postponed.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of postponed
Verb
  • The official, who spoke on behalf of the State Department on condition of anonymity, said Brazil has indicated the approval is likely to be delayed until after its election in October.
    — Abigail Williams, NBC news, 5 Aug. 2026
  • The article has been corrected to reflect that the university system’s timeline was expedited, not delayed.
    — Christopher Rim, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of delayed
Verb
  • Because taxes are generally deferred until distributions are taken, the annual tax impact of interest income may be reduced.
    — David Kudla, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
  • In addition, opting for a simple immediate or deferred annuity may also help amplify income, the report states.
    — Lorie Konish, CNBC, 29 July 2026
Definition of deferred
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.

Browse Nearby Words

held off
held off (on)
held on
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Held off (on).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/held%20off%20%28on%29. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All