as in distracted
to draw the attention or mind to something else
the sudden noise just threw me off completely, and I missed my shot
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Recent Examples of thrown off
One of his shoes was thrown off and found in a yard.
—
Mara H. Gottfried, Twin Cities, 18 Oct. 2025
Later, she’s thrown off school grounds for stealing office supplies and sports equipment.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2025
Neuroscientists are only scratching the surface of what happens when the networks are thrown off balance, but the work could lead to more treatments to fix them, Cembrowski said.
—Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 29 Sep. 2025
The Europeans are far too mentally tough to be thrown off their game.
—Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2025
Alex feels welcomed in this new town, but is immediately thrown off kilter by the intimacy among neighbors in Tall Pines.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 25 Sep. 2025
The balance of that can get quite thrown off.
—Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 22 Sep. 2025
Without it, in theory, the player might feel thrown off or less secure in their serve, which, in turn, could affect the trajectory of the point (and potentially the game, and then the set, and then the match, because in tennis, it all snowballs.
—Caroline Tien, SELF, 5 Sep. 2025
Perhaps there’s something salutary about being thrown off-balance, the novel suggests.
—Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
Mara H. Gottfried, Twin Cities, 18 Oct. 2025
Later, she’s thrown off school grounds for stealing office supplies and sports equipment.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2025
Neuroscientists are only scratching the surface of what happens when the networks are thrown off balance, but the work could lead to more treatments to fix them, Cembrowski said.
—Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 29 Sep. 2025
The Europeans are far too mentally tough to be thrown off their game.
—Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2025
Alex feels welcomed in this new town, but is immediately thrown off kilter by the intimacy among neighbors in Tall Pines.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 25 Sep. 2025
The balance of that can get quite thrown off.
—Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 22 Sep. 2025
Without it, in theory, the player might feel thrown off or less secure in their serve, which, in turn, could affect the trajectory of the point (and potentially the game, and then the set, and then the match, because in tennis, it all snowballs.
—Caroline Tien, SELF, 5 Sep. 2025
Perhaps there’s something salutary about being thrown off-balance, the novel suggests.
—Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for thrown off
Verb
-
Many young people may be too distracted by the likes of MrBeast, who dropped out of college and turned a passion for video creation into a billion-dollar global empire.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
18 Oct. 2025
-
If the White House grows distracted, or frustrated by slow progress, fighting could easily resume.—
Bloomberg Opinion,
Twin Cities,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
His double in the final — a cheeky free kick and a left-footed volley at the back-post — officially took his tournament tally up to five, but the Famalicao forward saw three further shots diverted into the net for own goals.—
Thom Harris,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025
-
The film, produced by Star Platinum, dramatizes a 1970 incident in which a communist group hijacked a passenger plane and diverted it to Pyongyang.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
21 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Thrown off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/thrown%20off. Accessed 25 Oct. 2025.
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