put off

verb

put off; putting off; puts off

transitive verb

1

a

: disconcert

b

: repel

2

a

: to hold back to a later time

b

: to induce to wait

put the bill collector off

3

: to rid oneself of : take off

4

: to sell or pass fraudulently

Synonyms

• defer
• delay
• hold off (on)
• hold over
• hold up
• lay over
• postpone
• put over
• remit
• shelve

Examples of put off in a Sentence

never put off until tomorrow what you can do today

put off your coat and stay awhile

Recent Examples on the Web

While competitors like OpenAI's Sora offer services at $20 to $200 monthly, Veo 2's pricing suggests it's designed for high-budget productions, who are going to be put off more by the ongoing challenges in maintaining consistency in complex scenes than by the price. —Charlie Fink, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2025

The Academy Awards have been put off a day after a shocking news event. —Bill Wyman, Vulture, 28 Feb. 2025

A week of wet and windy weather wasn’t enough to put off buyers, who flocked to various events and meetings, while MIP London offered a sprinkling of star power through David Beckham, who talked about his underwear. —Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 28 Feb. 2025

The decision is a small and temporary setback for Trump and his lawyers, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence Thomas, Elena Kagan, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett agreed to put off a decision for now. —David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for put off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff

Kids Definition

put off

verb

1

: to cause negative feelings in

your sloppy appearance put them off

2

: to hold back to a later time : defer

put off my visit to the dentist

3

: to rid oneself of

put off your coat