come off

verb

came off; come off; coming off; comes off

intransitive verb

1

a

: to acquit oneself : fare

came off well in the contest

b

: appear, seem

2

: succeed

a television series that never came off

—TV Guide

3

: happen, occur

4

US, informal

—used in phrases like where do you come off? to express anger or annoyance at what someone has said or done

Marie was bent over the table now, reading, her piping girlish voice hot with indignation. "Where does she come off, anyway?"

—T. Coraghessan Boyle

transitive verb

1

: to have recently completed or recovered from

coming off a good year

2

: to have recently stopped using (an illegal drug)

an addict who is coming off heroin

Synonyms

• be
• befall
• betide
• chance
• come
• come about
• come down
• cook
• do
• go down [slang]
• go on
• hap
• happen
• occur
• pass
• transpire

Examples of come off in a Sentence

couldn't believe that the wedding would actually come off—they've been “just dating” for years

the attempted revival of the city's downtown never really came off, and even more stores eventually closed

Recent Examples on the Web

Bon Jovi helped persuade her to come off the ledge over the Cumberland River to safety. —EW.com, 12 Sep. 2024

This needs to come off seamlessly with all the different things that are going on production wise. —Sean Gregory, TIME, 12 Sep. 2024

Jon Bon Jovi is being praised for helping a woman safely come off the ledge of a bridge in Nashville this week. —Nardine Saad, Los Angeles Times, 12 Sep. 2024

Driving the news: Nashville police thanked Bon Jovi and his team for their part in helping persuade the woman to come off the ledge to safety. —Nate Rau, Axios, 11 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1590, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a