written off

verb

past participle of write off
1
as in dismissed
to express scornfully one's low opinion of most critics have already written off that director as a hack incapable of turning out anything but schlock

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in reduced
to diminish the price or value of that one blunder will write off to nothing all the goodwill we've been building up

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 written off Goldenrod Originally written off as a weed, goldenrod is now beloved by many gardeners for its hardiness and colorful blooms. — Abby Monteil, The Spruce, 5 Sep. 2026 Andrew Shue, Melrose Place Andrew Shue’s Billy Campbell got written off Melrose Place in 1998, early in the show’s final season, and the actor barely looked back. — Jp Mangalindan, Entertainment Weekly, 24 Aug. 2026 On the mound, his 288 victories were written off by some Hall voters (though not this one) because his career spanned 26 seasons. — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 23 Aug. 2026 Dozens of sunken skiffs and speedboats, long written off by their owners, sat dry on the sand. — Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026 The train is, of course, a classic example of the perennial perils of sunk costs; abandoning the line seems absurd (even to us) given how much money would be written off. — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 20 Aug. 2026 And the larger entertainment industry is taking note of the uptick in audience interest in unscripted, giving more weight to slates that were previously written off. — Mia Galuppo, HollywoodReporter, 12 Aug. 2026 Not long ago, the announcement would have been written off as yet another blockchain trial balloon. — Nina Bambysheva, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026 She was written off when her character died from a brain tumor in season 9. — Makena Gera, PEOPLE, 6 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for written off
  1. dismissed
  2. reduced
  3. run down
  4. written down
  5. played down
  6. sunk
  7. talked down
Verb
  • Williams argued that without a viable federal copyright claim, Hugo’s state-law claims involving breach of fiduciary duty and an incomplete accounting should also be dismissed, leaving him free to pursue those claims separately in state court.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Last weekend in Highland, Michigan, Rogers dismissed El-Sayed's attempts to whittle away at his GOP base of support.
    — Aaron Navarro, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of dismissed
Verb
  • Taps won't go dry, experts say, in part because Arizona has already reduced its water use over the years.
    — Hannah Knowles The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2026
  • But for Deakins, the work is too dependent on the circumstances of a story, and the people telling it, to be reduced to any one method.
    — Callum McLennan, Variety, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of reduced
Verb
  • Blair had tears running down her face, while her team worked to explain what happened.
    — Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 15 Oct. 2026
  • There’s a marshy creek that runs down the west side of the property, and that creekbottom transitions to a 100-yard-wide stretch of hardwoods that border a hayfield.
    — Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of run down
Verb
  • Such a promise needs to be written down, with a way for employees to challenge a broken commitment.
    — Christoph Trattner, Fortune, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Brian had written down the recipe, and, in his back shed, Michael, with the eventual assistance of Kasey, sets about following it into strange and disturbing territory.
    — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of written down
Verb
  • The Singapore Shipping Association also played down the prospect of a broad withdrawal of commercial shipping from the region, suggesting operators would instead adapt to changing trade conditions.
    — Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The president of the European Central Bank played down speculation about intervention in France’s ballooning budget crisis on Wednesday.
    — John Liu, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of played down
Verb
  • Minnesota handled the Heat, 131-106, on the road Wednesday night when two-time All-NBA guard Anthony Edwards sunk nine 3-pointers to post 45 points.
    — Jason Beede, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment sunk to its second-lowest reading on record in September.
    — Greg Iacurci, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of sunk
Verb
  • Oversimplifying things, on the other hand, would leave hardcore fans feeling as if they were being talked down to.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026
  • There is a sense that it is patronised and talked down to a lot of the time.
    — Nick Miller, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of talked down

Browse Nearby Words

written down
written off
written up
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Cite this Entry

“Written off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/written%20off. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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