Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use off in a sentence

40 example sentences · adverb, adjective, preposition

Off means in a direction away from the speaker or other reference point. Example: “He drove off in a cloud of smoke.”

Examples of off by meaning

adverbIn a direction away from the speaker or other reference point.

  • He drove off in a cloud of smoke.
  • The Conception caught fire around 3:14 a.m. on Labor Day off Santa Cruz Island, about 20 miles away from the coast of mainland California.2019 September 27, Paul Vercammen, Steve Almasy, “ATF still looking to determine what caused deadly fire on California dive boat”, in CNN...

adverbInto a state of non-operation or non-existence.

  • Please switch off the light when you leave.
  • The dinosaurs died off long ago.

adverbSo as to remove or separate, or be removed or separated.

  • He bit off the end of the carrot.
  • Some branches were sawn off.
  • Please take your clothes off so that I can examine you.

adverbSpecifying the number of some item in bills, parts lists, etc.

  • 3 off 20 amp fuses

adjectiveInoperative, disabled.

  • All the lights are off.

adjectiveCancelled; not happening.

  • The party's off because the hostess is sick.

adjectiveNot fitted; not being worn.

  • Your feet will feel better once those tight boots are off.
  • The drink spilled out of the bottle because the top was off.

adjectiveNot 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.

More sentences with off

  • Tomorrow's Thursday, but I have Friday and Saturday off, so really it's my Friday.From the entry Friday
  • This wood has the ability to fight off insects, fungus, and mold for a considerable time.From the entry ability
  • The professor stopped her lecture abruptly when she noticed someone fall off their seat.From the entry abruptly
  • Shelley numbered off the group into two teams for the baseball game.From the entry number
  • I can't go off to lunch yet: I'm still on the clock.From the entry clock
  • We really hit it off on the first date, so we decided to meet the week after.From the entry date
  • Jonny always bots off me. I just wish he’d get his own pack.From the entry bot
  • We just wanted to take off a few thou, which we easily did with fine sandpaper.From the entry thou
  • If he doesn't pay off the mafia, he’ll wear cement shoes to the bottom of the drink!From the entry drink
  • Whoever closed last night forgot to turn off the closet light.From the entry close
  • He killed the engine and turned off the headlights, but remained in the car, waiting.From the entry kill
  • First we removed all the handles; next, we stripped off the old paint.From the entry next
  • Have you gentlemen come to see the lady who fell backwards off a bus?From the entry you
  • After a delay of three hours, the plane finally took off.From the entry of
  • If you want to jack your stats you just write off failures as invalid results.From the entry jack
  • They pulled me off the main crew and had me digging in the mill.From the entry mill
  • The five ball angled off the nine ball but failed to reach the pocket.From the entry angle
  • His left leg was blown off after he stepped on a mine.From the entry mine
  • Thousands of people came to the Civic Center to show off their civic pride.From the entry civic
  • He is quite bad off now that both his parents lost their jobs.From the entry bad
  • Give the motor a listen and tell me if it sounds off.From the entry listen
  • When the car cut her off, she gave him the eye.From the entry eye
  • He sought the help of an alchemist regarding remedies to ward off the eye.From the entry eye
  • The pitcher attempted to pick off the runner at first, but he was safe.From the entry safe
  • Save electricity by turning off the lights when you leave the room.From the entry save

Meaning of off

  1. adverb In a direction away from the speaker or other reference point.
  2. adverb Into a state of non-operation or non-existence.
  3. adverb So as to remove or separate, or be removed or separated.

Full definition of off

Questions about off in a sentence

How do you use off in a sentence?
Off is used as an adverb, adjective and preposition. For example: “He drove off in a cloud of smoke.”
What is a short sentence with off?
“3 off 20 amp fuses”
What does off mean?
Off means in a direction away from the speaker or other reference point.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: off (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use off in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/off. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.