as in postponing
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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for holding off (on)
Verb
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The real reason people are postponing becoming parents or having another child stems from the fact that, compared to earlier generations, fewer of today's young adults have hit the major milestones of adulthood, like finishing school, living on their own, and finding stable jobs.—
Karen Benjamin Guzzo,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Sep. 2025 -
These conditions pose challenges for travel, so exercise extra caution on the road or consider postponing your trip if possible.—
Bay Area Weather Report,
Mercury News,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Host Jimmy Kimmel milked the moment, delaying confirming that their answer was correct for a very tense minute.—
Emily Zemler,
Rolling Stone,
26 Sep. 2025
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Boys may experience greater benefits from delaying their start date compared to girls, said Ioakim Boutakidis, professor of child and adolescent studies at Cal State Fullerton.—
Erick Trevino,
AZCentral.com,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
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MicroStrategy remains the leader among corporate crypto treasuries, holding over 638,000 bitcoins valued at an astonishing $71 billion.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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While automakers are putting off and/or cancelling vehicles that only run on electrons, given high development costs and a weak market, Subaru is confident in the direction it is headed.—
Eileen Falkenberg-Hull,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Sep. 2025
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Similarly, white Americans are nearly four times as likely to skip or delay vaccinating their children compared to Asian Americans, with 19 percent and 5 percent, respectively, forgoing or putting off inoculating their kids, according to the poll.—
Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech,
The Hill,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Grand Canyon National Park spokeswoman Joelle Baird did not say how a shutdown would impact the park, deferring questions to a National Park Service media line.—
Michael Salerno,
AZCentral.com,
27 Sep. 2025
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The panel chose not to take a vote on whether to recommend the shot for pregnant women, deferring the decision to CDC officials, Retsef Levi, a member of the advisory committee, said during the meeting.—
Erika Edwards,
NBC news,
19 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Holding off (on).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/holding%20off%20%28on%29. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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