standoff 1 of 3

noun

ˈstand-ˌȯf How to pronounce standoff (audio)
Definition of standoffnext
1
as in tie
a situation in which neither participant in a contest, competition, or struggle comes out ahead of the other after two hours they had played to a 5-5 standoff

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in halt
a point in a struggle where neither side is capable of winning or willing to give in the standoff continued for three days before the fugitive gave himself up to the authorities

Synonyms & Similar Words

standoff

2 of 3

adjective

as in detached
having or showing a lack of friendliness or interest in others the client's standoff attitude suggested that this was going to be a strictly business relationship

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

stand off

3 of 3

verb

as in to turn back

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Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of standoff
Noun
When Fumi takes a job at Rin’s clinic planning to expose its darker side, their standoff drives the series, with the story more interested in what pushes people toward transformation than in the surgeries themselves. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 15 July 2026 The standoff follows a broader White House campaign criticizing Smithsonian exhibitions and historical framing, while Secretary Lonnie G. — George Nelson, ARTnews.com, 15 July 2026
Verb
As players sank into their chairs and coaches stood off to the side with their arms across their chests, Butera and president of baseball operations Paul Toboni talked through their priorities and their burgeoning identity. — Spencer Nusbaum, New York Times, 25 May 2026 Comparison can be a slippery slope as the moon stands off with Chiron. — Usa Today, USA Today, 30 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for standoff
Recent Examples of Synonyms for standoff
  1. tie
  2. halt
  3. detached
  4. turn back
  5. draw
  6. impasse
  7. distant
  8. hold off
Noun
  • If nothing else, garnering a point from a tie was a far better outcome for the Current than last week’s 3-0 loss at Orlando.
    — The Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 18 July 2026
  • The ensemble drama traces the unpredictable shape of grief and family dynamics, aiming for an emotionally candid portrait of loss and the ties that hold communities together.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 17 July 2026
Definition of tie
Noun
  • Last week, De Beers — which is owned by Anglo American — announced a two-year production halt at its flagship Venetia mine in South Africa.
    — Tiisetso Motsoeneng, semafor.com, 20 July 2026
  • The escalation over the strait has seen shipping traffic ground to a halt through the waterway, through which a fifth of the world’s oil flowed before the war.
    — Mithil Aggarwal, NBC news, 17 July 2026
Definition of halt
Adjective
  • Guests return year on year, generation on generation, making Coral Reef Club the perfect antidote to the detached, impersonal sheen of the modern chain resort.
    — Jonnie Bayfield, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 July 2026
  • Or a pig’s leg lying off to the side, detached and jittering, could resemble Ted’s leg.
    — Will Mackin, New Yorker, 28 June 2026
Definition of detached
Verb
  • The front-9 and the beginning of the back-9 holes play mostly away from the coastline, but play moves back towards the Moray Firth on the par-4 13th, hugging the waterline for the 14th, 15th, and 16th holes before turning back towards the clubhouse.
    — Zach Schenfisch, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
  • As the clock ticked down, Boyle took off his headphones, dropped the microphone and turned back into a student, rushing the field with his classmates.
    — Pete Sampson, New York Times, 20 July 2026
Definition of turn back
Noun
  • The club now sits at 4 wins, 10 losses, 2 draws (14 points), just six points off a playoff spot but with plenty of congestion in between.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 23 July 2026
  • Unfortunately for Roach, like the fight with Davis, his scrap with Cruz also ended in a majority draw.
    — Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026
Definition of draw
Noun
  • If the impasse does not end before then, the union will keep the current contract until 2027 — but employees would no longer receive wage increases other than those earned for additional years of service.
    — Emily Holshouser, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 July 2026
  • Only a small number of projects require involvement from the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Bronin, the former ACHP chair, said, and fewer still end in an impasse.
    — Janay Kingsberry, The Atlantic, 19 July 2026
Definition of impasse
Adjective
  • Nonlocality, whose experimental verification helped earn the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics, allows distant quantum systems to produce correlations that cannot be explained by classical physics alone.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 18 July 2026
  • That can change, but this is probably measured in decades, not years—and seems more distant today than in the recent past.
    — Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak, Fortune, 17 July 2026
Definition of distant
Verb
  • Yesterday's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics also gave investors hope that the Federal Reserve could hold off on raising interest rates.
    — Alex Harring, CNBC, 16 July 2026
  • Martin noted that the city used to await results from second-round tests for live bacteria before ordering such cleanups but this year decided not to hold off.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 July 2026
Definition of hold off

Phrases Containing standoff

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standoff
stand off
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Cite this Entry

“Standoff.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/standoff. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of standoff for Spanish Speakers

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