off

English Online Dictionary. What means off‎? What does off mean?

English

Alternative forms

• (US regional, English regional, Scottish) offn

Etymology

From Middle English of, from Old English of, af, æf (“from, off, away”), from Proto-West Germanic *ab, from Proto-Germanic *ab (“from”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epo (“from, off, back”). Doublet of of.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɒf/, (obsolete) /ɔːf/
• (General American) enPR: ŏf, IPA^(key): /ɔf/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ɑf/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ɒf/, [ɔːf]
• Rhymes: (Received Pronunciation) -ɒf, (older Received Pronunciation, General American) -ɔːf, (cot–caught merger) -ɑf

Adverb

off (not comparable)

1. In a direction away from the speaker or other reference point.

2. Into a state of non-operation or non-existence.

3. So as to remove or separate, or be removed or separated.
4. (theater) Offstage.

   noises off

5. Used in various other ways specific to individual idiomatic phrases, e.g. bring off, show off, put off, tell off, etc. See the entry for the individual phrase.

Usage notes

• off is used as an adverbial particle in a number of phrasal verbs (shake off, show off, switch off, take off, and so forth). This is not to be confused with prepositional use (e.g. jump off the table, keep off the grass; see below).

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

off (comparative more off, superlative most off)

1. (predicative only) Inoperative, disabled.

   Antonym: on

2. (predicative only) Cancelled; not happening.

3. Not fitted; not being worn.

4. Denoting something faulty, unsatisfactory, objectionable etc.
   1. Not correct; not properly formed; not logical, harmonious, etc.

      This calculation is off: the numbers don't add up.

      Is it right to say 'the amount of cars'? It sounds off to me.

      The guitar isn't tuned properly. The bottom E is off.

   2. (predicative only) Inappropriate; untoward.

      I felt that his comments were a bit off.

   3. Less than normal, in temperament or in result.

   4. (in phrases such as 'off day') Designating a time when one is not performing to the best of one's abilities.
   5. (chiefly UK, predicative only) Rancid, rotten, gone bad.

      Antonym: fresh

   6. (by extension, Australia, slang) Disgusting, repulsive, abhorrent.
5. (in phrases such as 'well off', 'poorly off', etc., and in 'how?' questions) Circumstanced.
6. Started on the way.
7. Far; off to the side.
9. Designating a time when one is not strictly attentive to business or affairs, or is absent from a post, and, hence, a time when affairs are not urgent.

10. (predicative only) Presently unavailable. (of a dish on a menu)

    — I'll have the chicken please.

    — Sorry, chicken's off today.

11. (British, in relation to a vehicle) On the side furthest from the kerb (the right-hand side if one drives on the left).

    Antonyms: near, nigh

12. (cricket) In, or towards the half of the field away from the batsman's legs; the right side for a right-handed batsman.

    Antonyms: on, leg

13. (informal, predicative only) unavailable; unable to stay in a band or come to a club due to being busy with activities or schedules.

Derived terms

Translations

Preposition

off

1. Not positioned upon, or away from a position upon.

2. Detached, separated, excluded or disconnected from; away from a position of attachment or connection to.

3. Used to indicate the location or direction of one thing relative to another, implying adjacency or accessibility via.
   1. Used to express location at sea relative to land or mainland.

4. Removed or subtracted from.

5. No longer wanting or taking.

6. (colloquial, more properly 'from') Out of the possession of.

7. Placed after a number (of products or parts, as if a unit), in commerce or engineering.

   Tantalum bar 6 off 3/8" Dia × 12" — Atom, Great Britain Atomic Energy Authority, 1972

   samples submitted … 12 off Thermistors type 1K3A531 … — BSI test report for shock and vibration testing, 2000

8. (slang, drugs) Under the influence of.

9. As a result of.

Antonyms

• on

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

off (third-person singular simple present offs, present participle offing, simple past and past participle offed)

1. (transitive, slang) To kill.
2. (transitive, Singapore, Philippines, Nigeria) To switch off.

Translations

Noun

off (uncountable)

1. (usually in phrases such as 'from the off', 'at the off', etc.) Beginning; starting point.

References

• off on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Further reading

• “off”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• FFO

Central Franconian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔf/

Etymology 1

Chiefly through German oft, from Middle High German ofte, from Old High German ofta, from Proto-Germanic *ufta.

Adverb

off (comparative öfter, superlative et öffste)

1. (Ripuarian) often, frequently

   Synonyms: (archaic in some dialects) deck, decks

Alternative forms

• oft (Moselle Franconian)

Etymology 2

Conjunction

off

1. Alternative spelling of ov

Chinese

Etymology

From English off.

Pronunciation

Verb

off

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, intransitive) to have day off
2. (Hong Kong Cantonese, transitive) to switch off; to turn off

German

Adjective

off (indeclinable, predicative only)

1. (Internet slang, especially video games) Clipping of offline.

   Coordinate term: on

Limburgish

Etymology

From Old Limburgish ova, from Proto-Germanic *jabai.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔf/
• Homophone: Off
• Rhymes: -ɔf

Conjunction

off (Eupen)

1. (coordinating) or
2. (subordinating) Introduces an indirect question, a doubt. if, whether.
3. (off ... off) either ... or

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English off.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈof/ [ˈof]
• Rhymes: -of

Adjective

off (invariable)

1. off-screen
2. (theater) off-Broadway; minor-league; small-time

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Derived terms

Further reading

• “off”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28