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 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

Specifically, offline payments would reportedly be visible only to the payer and recipient. — Sean Stein Smith, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2026

According to Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, the system crashed on its first day and had to be taken offline for several months, costing tens of millions in taxpayer dollars. — Renee Anderson, CBS News, 27 Aug. 2026

MacDonald and editor Phil Hignett have a keen, witty sense of how the online realm crashes offline living, seamlessly integrating deadly-accurate TikTok parodies into the film’s breezy narrative flow. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026

While birding is joining a Gen Z analog hobby boom as more young people are trying to go offline after the screen exhaustion of the pandemic, technology has also played a role in making birding more accessible. — Mia Osmonbekov, Fortune, 23 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1919, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for offline

• affine
• airline
• align
• aline
• assign
• baseline
• beamline
• benign
• bloodline
• bovine
• brucine
• byline

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