Off — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

adverb preposition adjective verb abbreviation /ˈȯf/

Meaning & Definition of Off

Off (adverb)

  1. from a place or position; specifically, away from land
  2. at a distance in space or time
  3. from a course, aside; specifically, away from the wind

Off (preposition)

  1. —used as a function word to indicate physical separation or distance from a position of rest, attachment, or union
  2. to seaward of
  3. from the possession or charge of

Off (adjective)

  1. seaward
  2. right
  3. more removed or distant

Off (verb)

  1. to go away, depart —used chiefly as an imperative
  2. kill, murder

Off (abbreviation)

  1. office; officer; official

Off (adverb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. from this or that place

    "move off a few yards before I throw the football"

    similar: away, down, fro, hence, out
    related: apart, aside, elsewhere, abroad, afar, afield, astray

Off (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. falling short of a standard

    "the milk tasted off"

    similar: bad, bastard, bush, bush-league, crummy, deficient, dissatisfactory, ill, inferior, lame, lousy, paltry, poor, punk, sour, suboptimal, subpar, substandard, unacceptable, unsatisfactory, wack (slang), wanting, wretched, wrong, below par, from hunger
    related: abysmal, atrocious, awful, bitchin' (slang), brutal, damnable, deplorable, detestable, disastrous, dreadful, execrable, gnarly (slang), horrendous, horrible, pathetic, stinky, sucky (slang), terrible, unspeakable, defective, faulty, flawed, egregious, flagrant, gross, bum, cheesy, coarse, common, crappy (slang), cut-rate, junky, lesser, low-grade, low-rent, mediocre, miserable, reprehensible, rotten, rubbishy, second-rate, shoddy, sleazy, trashy, abominable, odious, vile, useless, valueless, worthless, inadequate, insufficient, lacking, meager, mean, miserly, scanty, shabby, short, skimp, skimpy, spare, stingy, miscreant, scurrilous, villainous, counterfeit, fake, phony, sham
    opposite: acceptable, adequate, all right, decent, fine, OK, passable, respectable, satisfactory, standard, tolerable
    near: classic, classical, A1, bang-up, banner, boss (slang), capital, choice, crackerjack, dandy, divine, excellent, fabulous, first-class, first-rate, grand, great, groovy, heavenly, high-test, jim-dandy, keen, marvelous, mean, neat, nifty, noble, par excellence, perfect, premium, prime, sensational, slick, splendid, stellar, sterling, superb, superior, superlative, supernal, swell, terrific, tip-top, top, top-notch, unsurpassed, wonderful, better, exceptional, fancy, high-grade, special, sufficient, average, borderline, fair, mediocre, middling, minimal, so-so, unexceptional, suitable, useful, worthy, gratifying, satisfying

  2. 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"

    similar: dead, dormant, fallow, free, idle, inactive, inert, inoperative, latent, unused, vacant, at rest, on the shelf, out of commission
    related: abeyant, arrested, interrupted, suspended, unoccupied, asleep, comatose, lifeless, moribund, quiescent, sleepy, inoperable, unusable, unworkable, useless, dull, slow
    opposite: active, alive, busy, employed, functioning, going, living, on, operating, operative, running, working
    near: functional, operable, operational, workable, assiduous, industrious, sedulous, energetic, vigorous, feasible, practical, usable, useful, viable

  3. not being in agreement with what is true

    "that claim that everyone is actually related to everyone else seems a bit off"

    similar: erroneous, false, inaccurate, incorrect, inexact, invalid, unsound, untrue, untruthful, wrong, off base
    related: counterfactual, specious, spurious, deceptive, delusive, delusory, distorted, fallacious, fictitious, illusory, misleading, amiss, askew, awry, deceitful, dishonest, fraudulent, lying, mendacious, unconfirmed, unproven, untested, fabricated, invented, made-up, trumped-up
    opposite: accurate, correct, errorless, exact, factual, precise, proper, right, sound, true, valid, veracious
    near: confirmed, demonstrated, established, proven, tested, faultless, flawless, impeccable, letter-perfect, perfect

  4. small in degree

    "on the off chance that you do get straight A's, you can skip a grade"

    similar: fragile, frail, negligible, outside, remote, slight, slim, small
    related: marginal, minimal, minor, little, tiny
    opposite: good
    near: great, large, distinct, significant, considerable, goodly, healthy, largish, respectable, sizable, substantial, tidy

  5. 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"

    similar: bawdy, blue, gamy, lewd, off-color, racy, ribald, risqué, salty, spicy, suggestive
    related: leering, barnyard, coarse, coarse-grained, crude, earthy, foul, gross, vulgar, dirty, filthy, gutter, indecent, lascivious, locker-room, nasty, obscene, pornographic, porny, prurient, raunchy, smutty, stag, unprintable, unpublishable, warm, X-rated, immodest, indecorous, indelicate, naughty
    near: clean, decent, G-rated, nonobscene, innocuous, inoffensive, priggish, prim, prudish, puritanical, staid, straitlaced, Victorian, correct, decorous, genteel, nice, polite, proper, respectable, seemly

Off (verb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. to put to death deliberately

    "the hit man was rumored to have offed at least three people in the last year alone"

    similar: assassinate, bump off, croak (slang), dispatch, do in, execute, get, ice (slang), knock off, liquidate, murder, neutralize, put away, rub out, slay, snuff, take out, terminate, whack (slang), do away with
    related: blow away, shoot, shoot down, blot out, carry off, claim, cut down, destroy, fell, kill, smite, zap, butcher, massacre, mow (down), slaughter, annihilate, eliminate, eradicate, exterminate, wipe out
    near: animate, raise, restore, resurrect, resuscitate, revive

Related Entry: Off-color (adjective)

Off-color is a different word from Off. The synonyms below are for off-color, not for off.

  1. hinting at or intended to call to mind matters regarded as indecent

    "the movie was rated PG-13 for some swearing and off-color jokes"

    similar: bawdy, blue, gamy, lewd, off, racy, ribald, risqué, salty, spicy, suggestive
    related: leering, barnyard, coarse, coarse-grained, crude, earthy, foul, gross, vulgar, dirty, filthy, gutter, indecent, lascivious, locker-room, nasty, obscene, pornographic, porny, prurient, raunchy, smutty, stag, unprintable, unpublishable, warm, X-rated, immodest, indecorous, indelicate, naughty
    near: clean, decent, G-rated, nonobscene, innocuous, inoffensive, priggish, prim, prudish, puritanical, staid, straitlaced, Victorian, correct, decorous, genteel, nice, polite, proper, respectable, seemly

Related Entry: Off-kilter (adjective)

Off-kilter is a different word from Off. The synonyms below are for off-kilter, not for off.

  1. different from the ordinary in a way that causes curiosity or suspicion

    "he's nice enough, but there's something a little off-kilter about him"

    similar: bizarre, bizarro, cranky, crazy, curious, eccentric, erratic, far-out, funky, funny, kinky, kooky, odd, off-the-wall, offbeat, out-of-the-way, outlandish, outré, peculiar, quaint, queer, queerish, quirky, remarkable, rum (chiefly British), screwy, spaced-out, strange, wacky, way-out, weird, weirdo, wild
    related: aberrant, abnormal, addlepated, flaky, extraordinary, fantastic, freak, freakish, freaky, phantasmagoric, phenomenal, atypical, rare, singular, uncommon, uncustomary, unique, unusual, unwonted, conspicuous, notable, noticeable, outstanding, prominent, salient, striking, atrocious, outrageous, shocking, crotchety, idiosyncratic, nonconformist, nonmainstream, out-there, unconventional, unorthodox, baffling, bewildering, confounding, mystifying, perplexing, puzzling
    near: average, commonplace, everyday, garden, normal, ordinary, prosaic, routine, run-of-the-mill, standard, typical, unexceptional, unremarkable, usual, workaday, conformist, conservative, conventional, expected, familiar, knee-jerk, predictable, common, customary, frequent, habitual, regular, wonted

  2. inclined or twisted to one side

    "to me, the painting on the wall looks a little off-kilter"

    similar: askew, aslant, atilt, awry, cock-a-hoop, cockeyed, crazy, crooked, listing, lopsided, oblique, pitched, skewed, slanted, slanting, slantwise, tilted, tipping, uneven, out of plumb
    related: asymmetrical, unbalanced, unsymmetrical, contorted, disordered, distorted, irregular
    opposite: even, level, straight
    near: ordered, orderly, regular, uniform, balanced, symmetrical

Related Entry: Off-load (verb)

Off-load is a different word from Off. The synonyms below are for off-load, not for off.

  1. to empty or rid of cargo

    "the warehouse needs to hire more people to load and off-load the trucks"

    similar: disburden, discharge, disencumber, unburden, unlade, unload, unpack
    related: free, lighten, relieve, clear, empty, evacuate, vacate, void
    opposite: load, pack
    near: charge, cram, fill, heap, jam, jam-pack, stuff

Related Entry: Off-the-cuff (adjective)

Off-the-cuff is a different word from Off. The synonyms below are for off-the-cuff, not for off.

  1. made or done without previous thought or preparation

    "having gotten into hot water with some unfortunate off-the-cuff remarks, the candidate now limits himself to his carefully prepared campaign speech"

    similar: ad hoc, ad-lib, down and dirty, extemporaneous, extemporary, extempore, impromptu, improvisational, improvised, offhand, offhanded, snap, spur-of-the-moment, unconsidered, unplanned, unpremeditated, unprepared, unrehearsed, unstudied
    related: unscripted, automatic, impulsive, instinctive, involuntary, spontaneous, casual, cursive, informal, unauthorized, half-baked, half-cocked, ill-advised
    opposite: considered, planned, premeditated, premeditative, prepared, rehearsed
    near: deliberate, intended, intentional

Related Entry: Off-the-peg (adjective)

Off-the-peg is a different word from Off. The synonyms below are for off-the-peg, not for off.

  1. made beforehand in large numbers

    "accustomed to bespoke suits, he would never condescend to wear an off-the-peg smoking jacket"

    similar: bought, mass-produced, off-the-rack, off-the-shelf, ready-made, store, store-bought
    related: ready-to-wear, commercial, prefab, prefabricated, hand-me-down
    opposite: bespoke, custom, customized, custom-made, tailored, tailor-made
    near: handcrafted, handmade, homemade

Related Entry: Off-the-rack (adjective)

Off-the-rack is a different word from Off. The synonyms below are for off-the-rack, not for off.

  1. made beforehand in large numbers

    "the fashionistas were aghast that the actress would wear an off-the-rack dress to the Oscars"

    similar: bought, mass-produced, off-the-peg (chiefly British), off-the-shelf, ready-made, store, store-bought
    related: ready-to-wear, commercial, prefab, prefabricated, hand-me-down
    opposite: bespoke, custom, customized, custom-made, tailored, tailor-made
    near: handcrafted, handmade, homemade

Related Entry: Off-the-shelf (adjective)

Off-the-shelf is a different word from Off. The synonyms below are for off-the-shelf, not for off.

  1. made beforehand in large numbers

    "she chose to have her computer designed to her specifications rather than buying an off-the-shelf machine"

    similar: bought, mass-produced, off-the-peg (chiefly British), off-the-rack, ready-made, store, store-bought
    related: ready-to-wear, commercial, prefab, prefabricated, hand-me-down
    opposite: bespoke, custom, customized, custom-made, tailored, tailor-made
    near: handcrafted, handmade, homemade

Synonyms, Thesaurus & Another Word for Off

The most common words with a similar meaning to Off:

Slang: wack, croak, ice, whack
away, down, fro, hence, out, bad, bastard, bush, bush-league, crummy, deficient, dissatisfactory, ill, inferior, lame, lousy, paltry, poor, punk, sour, suboptimal, subpar, substandard, unacceptable, unsatisfactory, wanting, wretched, wrong, dead, dormant, fallow, free, idle, inactive, inert, inoperative, latent, unused, vacant, erroneous

Antonyms & Opposite Words for Off

Words with the opposite meaning of Off:

acceptable, adequate, all right, decent, fine, OK, passable, respectable, satisfactory, standard, tolerable, active, alive, busy, employed, functioning, going, living, on, operating, operative, running, working, accurate, correct, errorless, exact, factual, precise, proper

Related Words for Off

apart, aside, elsewhere, abroad, afar, afield, astray, abysmal, atrocious, awful, bitchin', brutal, damnable, deplorable, detestable, disastrous, dreadful, execrable, gnarly, horrendous, horrible, pathetic, stinky, sucky, terrible, unspeakable, defective, faulty, flawed, egregious

Near Antonyms of Off

classic, classical, A1, bang-up, banner, boss, capital, choice, crackerjack, dandy, divine, excellent, fabulous, first-class, first-rate, grand, great, groovy, heavenly, high-test, jim-dandy, keen, marvelous, mean, neat, nifty, noble, par excellence, perfect, premium

Word Forms of Off

Inflections: offed, offing, offs

Origin & Etymology of Off

Middle English of, from Old English of

First known use: before 12th century

Vocabulary Lists & Topics for Off

Words & Phrases Containing Off

-off, off and on, off base, off-brand, off Broadway

Frequently Asked Questions about Off

What does "Off" mean?

"Off" means from a place or position; specifically, away from land. As an an adverb, a preposition, an adjective, a verb and an abbreviation, it is defined as: from a place or position; specifically, away from land. It has 7 distinct senses.

What is another word for "Off"?

Other words for "Off" include away, down, fro, hence, out, bad, bastard and bush. The best synonym depends on which meaning of "Off" you intend.

What are different ways to say "Off"?

There are 268 words and phrases with a similar meaning to "Off". Common alternatives include away, down, fro, hence, out, bad, bastard, bush, bush-league and crummy.

What is a slang word for "Off"?

Slang words for "Off" include wack, croak, ice and whack.

What is the opposite of "Off"?

Antonyms of "Off" include acceptable, adequate, all right, decent, fine, OK, passable and respectable. Near antonyms include classic, classical, A1 and bang-up.

How do you use "Off" in a sentence?

Examples of "Off" in a sentence: "move off a few yards before I throw the football"; "the milk tasted off"; "the computer is off, so you'll have to turn it on in order to use it".

Is "Off" a noun, verb, or adjective?

"Off" can be used as an adverb, a preposition, an adjective, a verb and an abbreviation, depending on the context.

Is "Off" useful for IELTS, TOEFL, and other English exams?

As an A1-level word, "Off" is typical of Cambridge A1 Movers (Young Learners), TOEIC Listening & Reading 120+.