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UK/ɒf/ US/ɔːf/ very common informal slang uk

adverb

1.

from a particular thing or place or position (`forth' is obsolete)

  • “ran away from the lion”
  • “wanted to get away from there”
  • “sent the children away to boarding school”
  • “the teacher waved the children away from the dead animal”
  • “went off to school”
  • “they drove off”
  • “go forth and preach”
Synonyms
2.

at a distance in space or time

  • “the boat was 5 miles off (or away)”
  • “the party is still 2 weeks off (or away)”
  • “away back in the 18th century”
Synonyms
3.

no longer on or in contact or attached

  • “clean off the dirt”
  • “he shaved off his mustache”

adjective

1.

not in operation or operational

  • “the oven is off”
  • “the lights are off”
Antonyms
2.

below a satisfactory level

  • “an off year for tennis”
  • “his performance was off”
3.

(of events) no longer planned or scheduled

  • “the wedding is definitely off”
Synonyms
Antonyms
4.

in an unpalatable state

  • “sour milk”
Synonyms
Similar
5.

not performing or scheduled for duties

  • “He”
  • “;”
  • “;”
Similar

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • fall off the ugly tree
  • off and running
  • off one's face
  • off one's feed
  • off one's game
  • off one's nut
  • off one's rocker
  • off the dome
  • off the lay
  • off to the races

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.