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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for holding off (on)
Verb
-
Tabling the bill means legislators are postponing the matter and might not revisit it this session, but could bring it up again later.—
Morgan Matzen,
Sioux Falls Argus Leader,
5 Mar. 2026 -
Ekko Astral are postponing their second album, The Beltway Is Burning.—
Hattie Lindert,
Pitchfork,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The union is calling for an inflationary increase to wages effective July 1, while Cassellius has proposed delaying inflationary raises until January to save money.—
Rory Linnane,
jsonline.com,
6 Mar. 2026
-
The inspector general accused the department of blocking long-standing access to internal DHS databases used for oversight work, restricting data related to border enforcement and TSA programs, and delaying access to classified intelligence systems.—
Nicole Sganga,
CBS News,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
And moviegoers turned out to indies from Rosemead to The Chronology of Water, All That’s Left Of You and more, new and holding over, limited, wide and top ten.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
11 Jan. 2026
-
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
-
Funk and Vater say these tasks are worth putting off until the last threat of freezing temperatures has passed.—
Patricia Shannon,
Southern Living,
4 Mar. 2026
-
As the war in Ukraine enters its fourth year, Ukraine’s birth rate is collapsing, with increasing number of people struggling with fertility or putting off the decision to have children.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
22 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The substantial-evidence standard, used by the federal appeals court, looked at whether an immigration judge’s finding had evidence to support it, deferring nearly all of the fact-finding and evaluation of the person’s asylum claim to the immigration judge’s proceedings.—
Jack Birle,
The Washington Examiner,
4 Mar. 2026
-
The Houston Astros gave Smith periodic pregame work in center field but did not play him there, deferring the idea with a prospect already navigating a move from the infield.—
Matt Kawahara,
Houston Chronicle,
24 Feb. 2026
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.
Cite this Entry
“Holding off (on).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/holding%20off%20%28on%29. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
