offline

adjective

off·​line ˈȯf-ˈlīn 

variants or less commonly off-line

1

: not connected to or served by a system and especially a computer or telecommunications system

One of the servers is offline.

… we suggest you keep a backup of your digital assets in offline storage, too. This storage can provide some cushioning if your online investment disappears in an instant.

—The Denver (Colorado) Post

also : done or occurring independently of such a system

our online and offline lives

offline activities/events

Movies and shows can be downloaded via the app for offline viewing.

—Dan Auty

2

of a person : not available (as for communication) especially by way of the the Internet

She was having computer trouble, she told him, and would be offline for a while.

—Mark Warren

off-line adverb

Examples of offline in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These ruthless cyberattacks can take medical systems offline for weeks—canceling appointments and surgeries and causing harm to patients. —Matt Burgess, WIRED, 24 June 2024

Paywall-free reading of new articles and over a century of archives Unlock access to iOS/Android apps to save editions for offline reading Six issues a year in print and online, plus audio articles Subscribe Now ROBERT C. O’BRIEN served as U.S. National Security Adviser from 2019 to 2021. —Robert C. O’Brien, Foreign Affairs, 18 June 2024

Last year, Apple started allowing users to download a specific area on a map to use offline as part of the company's larger iOS 17 update. —Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 13 June 2024

Many spacecraft based in low-Earth orbit would likely be taken offline, Samson says, including a significant fraction of SpaceX’s 6,000-plus Starlink satellites in orbit, which, among other things, provide critical high-speed broadband to Ukrainian forces fighting against Russia’s invasion. —Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 13 June 2024

The problem with big payouts appears to be tied to Ohio Lottery officials’ efforts to mitigate the threat by taking some of its systems offline. —Amanda Garrett, The Enquirer, 12 June 2024

Then, on Thursday, several of Starliner's spacecraft thrusters went offline for a time. —Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 6 June 2024

After publishing an article accusing Israel of genocide, Columbia Law Review was taken offline by its board of directors. —Jake Offenhartz, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 June 2024

Since its entry into Brazil in 2022, Starlink has swept across the world’s largest rainforest, bringing the web to one of the last offline places on Earth. —Jack Nicas Victor Moriyama, New York Times, 2 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1919, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

offline

adjective

off·​line

ˈȯ-ˈflīn

1

: not connected to or controlled by a computer

an offline printer

2

: not available (as for communication) especially by way of the Internet

she was offline all day

off-line adverb