1
as in wrong
falling short of a standard
the milk tasted off
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dormant
not being in a state of use, activity, or employment
the computer is off, so you'll have to turn it on in order to use it
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3
as in erroneous
not being in agreement with what is true
that claim that everyone is actually related to everyone else seems a bit off
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4
as in small
small in degree
on the off chance that you do get straight A's, you can skip a grade
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5
as in spicy
hinting at or intended to call to mind matters regarded as indecent
a telltale smirk suggested that there was something off about his parting shot
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to assassinate
to put to death deliberately
the hit man was rumored to have offed at least three people in the last year alone
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of off
Matt Richardson, CBS News, 10 June 2026
Maybe the movers and shakers took the day off, but Eddie’s Place still delivered a pleasant morning – and that’s reason enough to check it out for yourself.
—Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 10 June 2026
Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 7 June 2026
China and Iran will likely lobby to keep an off switch in the hands of states; countries that value open communications may work to counter those efforts.
—Holly Dagres, The Atlantic, 5 June 2026
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 19 Feb. 2026
The show even found actors to portray characters inspired by real life: Jesse Tyler Ferguson played an ersatz Andy Cohen who offed a Real Housewife.
—The Editors, Curbed, 15 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for off
Adverb
For others, however, waiting to see how things develop further may be safer, even if that pause pushes their home purchase or refinancing goals off even further.
—Matt Richardson, CBS News, 10 June 2026
Maybe the movers and shakers took the day off, but Eddie’s Place still delivered a pleasant morning – and that’s reason enough to check it out for yourself.
—Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 10 June 2026
Adjective
Those cities were part of a three-city trip that started in Anaheim and had an off-day in between series against the Rockies and Diamondbacks.
—Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 7 June 2026
China and Iran will likely lobby to keep an off switch in the hands of states; countries that value open communications may work to counter those efforts.
—Holly Dagres, The Atlantic, 5 June 2026
Verb
Keen observers, Anglophiles, and anyone who watches movies made before 1972 will notice more than a casual similarity to Kind Hearts and Coronets, the old Ealing comedy in which an enterprising young Dennis Price attempts to off his relatives in order to claim the family fortune.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 19 Feb. 2026
The show even found actors to portray characters inspired by real life: Jesse Tyler Ferguson played an ersatz Andy Cohen who offed a Real Housewife.
—The Editors, Curbed, 15 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for off
Recent Examples of Synonyms for off
Adverb
-
Dabbing the cloth in rubbing alcohol, working away the dirty blots on the glass, waiting for the haze in my head to focus, and a new line to come to me.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 June 2026
-
Things changed in January 2025, when Bass was more than 7,000 miles away at a diplomatic function in Ghana when the Palisades fire broke out.—
Noah Goldberg,
Los Angeles Times,
8 June 2026
Adjective
-
Wirskye then asked who was wrong that day.—
Dawn White,
CBS News,
7 June 2026
-
Lauren McCormick, a spokeswoman for travel insurance provider Squaremouth, says your phone is the most efficient tool for protecting your travel investment if things go wrong.—
Christopher Elliott,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2026
Adjective
-
The police had let the case lie dormant.—
Heidi Blake,
New Yorker,
8 June 2026
-
The fungi’s natural resistance to cold kept them dormant but still alive and capable of reviving, even after thousands of years, according to research published last week in the journal Microbiome.—
Mindy Weisberger,
CNN Money,
8 June 2026
Adjective
-
Judge Nicole Hopps last month increased his minimum term of incarceration to 60 years after granting his request to correct the erroneous sentence.—
Tom Olsen,
Twin Cities,
8 June 2026
-
There is a widespread, but erroneous, belief that fraud is why the state Unemployment Insurance Fund is deeply in the red.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
3 June 2026
Adjective
-
The national initiative is awarding more than $10 million to help small businesses grow, innovate, and strengthen their local communities, a spokesperson from the grant program said.—
Pamela McLoughlin,
Hartford Courant,
12 June 2026
-
Supporting small businesses also played a major role in her strategy.—
Ashley Vega,
PEOPLE,
12 June 2026
Adjective
-
Culinary adventures in this city offer sweet, spicy, sour and salty flavors across famous dishes that can cost less than $5.—
Avni Trivedi,
CNN Money,
8 June 2026
-
My first root beer felt like a spicy cola and a big secret I’d unraveled.—
Julie Lin,
Condé Nast Traveler,
8 June 2026
Verb
-
In 1979, Pamela’s father, Lord Louis Mountbatten, was assassinated by the IRA when a bomb exploded aboard his fishing boat.—
Rachel Burchfield,
InStyle,
5 June 2026
-
In the 1970s, Eugene Hart was convicted of threatening the president after his brother reported Hart’s plan to assassinate President Richard Nixon.—
Wayne Unger,
The Conversation,
4 June 2026
Adverb
-
An incomprehensible dropped fly ball to center had runners and the corners with two down.—
Matt Roy,
Boston Herald,
10 June 2026
-
Dobbins told Alford that his 2026 choices were down to two.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
9 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/off. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
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