come off

verb

came off; come off; coming off; comes off

intransitive verb

1

a

: to acquit oneself : fare

came off well in the contest

b

: appear, seem

2

: succeed

a television series that never came off

—TV Guide

3

: happen, occur

4

US, informal

—used in phrases like where do you come off? to express anger or annoyance at what someone has said or done

Marie was bent over the table now, reading, her piping girlish voice hot with indignation. "Where does she come off, anyway?"

—T. Coraghessan Boyle

transitive verb

1

: to have recently completed or recovered from

coming off a good year

2

: to have recently stopped using (an illegal drug)

an addict who is coming off heroin

Synonyms

• be
• befall
• betide
• chance
• come
• come about
• come down
• cook
• do
• go down [slang]
• go on
• hap
• happen
• occur
• pass
• transpire

Examples of come off in a Sentence

couldn't believe that the wedding would actually come off—they've been “just dating” for years

the attempted revival of the city's downtown never really came off, and even more stores eventually closed

Recent Examples on the Web

The Current is coming off a road trip to Gotham FC, the defending league champions. —Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 20 Apr. 2024

Engulfed in the Sturm und Drang of the rest of Dark Matter, this slightly ungainly quasi-lullaby could potentially come off as corny and off-script. —Morgan Enos, SPIN, 19 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1590, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a