: available as a stock item : not specially designed or custom-made
off-the-shelf software

Examples of off-the-shelf in a Sentence

she chose to have her computer designed to her specifications rather than buying an off-the-shelf machine
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Because virtually no mainstream economists think that universal tariffs are a good idea, there is no off-the-shelf policy model to adopt. Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2025 Instead of relying on outdated off-the-shelf solutions, HR leaders must identify the specific skills and capabilities necessary to achieve their company’s strategic objectives. Dave Barnett, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025 According to Straits Research, the global off-the-shelf secondhand furniture market was valued at $29.8 billion in 2021. Justin Gest, Newsweek, 20 Jan. 2025 After all, off-the-shelf commercial quadcopter drones modified to carry explosives for one-way ground attack missions are ubiquitous on the battlefields of the 2020s. Paul Iddon, Forbes, 17 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for off-the-shelf 

Word History

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of off-the-shelf was in 1950

Dictionary Entries Near off-the-shelf

Cite this Entry

“Off-the-shelf.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/off-the-shelf. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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