Etimology
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.
adverb
off (not comparable)
In a direction away from the speaker or other reference point.
Into a state of non-operation or non-existence.
So as to remove or separate, or be removed or separated.
(theater) Offstage.
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.
Examples
No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or […] . And at last I began to realize in my harassed soul that all elusion was futile, and to take such holidays as I could get, when he was off with a girl, in a spirit of thankfulness.
So this was my future home, I thought! […] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
He drove off in a cloud of smoke.
Please switch off the light when you leave.
The dinosaurs died off long ago.
He bit off the end of the carrot.
Some branches were sawn off.
The space had been sectioned off with colorful plastic shelves so that her textbooks rested on the bottom and her binders and personal effects lay across the middle.
noises off
Related words
synonyms
away
out
antonyms
in
on
adjective
off (comparative more off, superlative most off)
(predicative only) Inoperative, disabled.
(predicative only) Cancelled; not happening.
Not fitted; not being worn.
Denoting something faulty, unsatisfactory, objectionable etc.
(in phrases such as 'well off', 'poorly off', etc., and in 'how?' questions) Circumstanced.
Started on the way.
Far; off to the side.
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.
(predicative only) Presently unavailable. (of a dish on a menu)
(UK, in relation to a vehicle) On the side furthest from the kerb (the right-hand side if one drives on the left).
(cricket) In, or towards the half of the field away from the batsman's legs; the right side for a right-handed batsman.
Examples
Antonym: on
All the lights are off.
The party's off because the hostess is sick.
Your feet will feel better once those tight boots are off.
The drink spilled out of the bottle because the top was off.
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.
I felt that his comments were a bit off.
sales are off this quarter
Antonym: fresh
This milk is off!
Our family used to be well off; now we're very badly off.
How are you off for milk? Shall I get you some more from the shop?
'Are you better off now than you were four years ago?' With that pointed question, Ronald Reagan defined the 1980 presidential election as a 92 referendum on Jimmy Carter's economic policies
off to see the wizard
And they're off! Whatsmyname takes an early lead, with Remember The Mane behind by a nose.
—Hello, Bloom. Where are you off to?—Hello, M’Coy. Nowhere in particular.
"But I'm off, Mr. Malone. We sit once a week and have done for four years without a break. Eight o'clock Thursdays."
Let them glimpse a green man coming at them with intent, and they're off like a bride's nighty. Even after capture some of them will seize every attempt to suicide — they just can't live with the tremendous loss of face.
He took me down the corridor and into an off room.
the off horse or ox in a team, in distinction from the nigh or near horse
He came in, took a look and squinched down into a chair in an off corner and didn’t open his mouth.
He took an off day for fishing. an off year in politics; the off season
— I'll have the chicken please.
— Sorry, chicken's off today.
The man and the horse came closer and were Sonny Jacobs of the Diamond Six and a smallish neat sorrel definitely favouring its off forefoot.
The off front wheel came loose.
Antonyms: near, nigh
Antonyms: on, leg
preposition
off
Not positioned upon, or away from a position upon.
Detached, separated, excluded or disconnected from; away from a position of attachment or connection to.
Used to indicate the location or direction of one thing relative to another, implying adjacency or accessibility via.
Removed or subtracted from.
No longer wanting or taking.
(colloquial, more properly 'from') Out of the possession of.
Placed after a number (of products or parts, as if a unit), in commerce or engineering.
(slang, drugs) Under the influence of.
Examples
He's off the roof now.
I took it off the table.
Keep off the grass.
The phone is off the hook
The coat fell off the peg.
He was thrown off the team for cheating.
We've been off the grid for three days now.
We're off their radar.
He's off the computer, but he's still on the phone.
His office is off this corridor on the right.
We're just off the main road.
Look! There's a UFO off our left wing!
The island is 23 miles off the cape.
There's 20% off the list price.
He's been off his feed since Tuesday.
He's off his meds again.
He didn't buy it off him. He stole it off him.
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
I'd like to re-order those printer cartridges, let's say 5-off.
The guy was off a perc.
Related words
antonyms
on
verb
off (third-person singular simple present offs, present participle offing, simple past and past participle offed)
(transitive, slang) To kill.
(transitive, Singapore, Philippines, Nigeria) To switch off.
Examples
Most sorely missed is the relationship between Eggsy and Colin Firth’s delightfully avuncular mentor figure Harry Hart, who was offed, seemingly definitively with a bullet to the brain towards its end.
Can you off the light?
noun
off (uncountable)
(usually in phrases such as 'from the off', 'at the off', etc.) Beginning; starting point.
Examples
He has been very obviously an untrustworthy narrator right from the off.
2023 Royal Ascot suit ... are you ready for the off?