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Glite Dictionary
to doze off

to doze off

35 2.7
To fall asleep for a short time without meaning to
  • phrasal verb
  • /doʊz ɔf/
  • Informal
translation icon : dormirse
  • She started to doze off during the lecture because it was so boring.
  • just dozed off
  • dozed off and woke
  • doze off again

And in that moment, my mom rushed to like my door and I was, I really like dozing off.

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Examples

  • I must have dozed off.

    A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

  • After they had lunch from the basket that Johanna had packed, they both dozed off in the midday heat.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • I must have dozed off quite late today.

    Waiting on Mary (2016)

  • Sorry, I must have dozed off.

    The Lovers (2015)

  • You must have dozed off for a minute.

    Man-Made Monster (1941)

  • Every night I get in bed and watch you until I doze off.

    Shoot or Be Shot! (2002)

  • The King began dozing off five minutes after the Assembly opened.

    Jefferson in Paris (1995)

  • I enjoyed the warmth for a while, then dozed off again.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Leaning on an old cane, she dozed off on the sofa.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Before long, Monsoon, his back propped against the restaurant's concrete back stoop, dozed off, too.

    Fiction book (1995)

Synonyms

to fall asleep
vsto doze off
376 1.0

To start sleeping

is specifically an unplanned, short lapse into sleep rather than general sleep
to doze
vsto doze off
43 2.3

To sleep lightly for a short time without meaning to

is the brief unintentional sleep usually happening unexpectedly
to drift off
vsto doze off
23 3.8

To slowly fall asleep without meaning to

is the same short, unplanned sleep but not only slow in onset
to nod off
vsto doze off
  • Informal
12 4.1

To fall asleep for a short time without meaning to

is the same brief, unintentional sleep rather than deliberate rest
to snooze
vsto doze off
7 2.1

To sleep lightly for a short time, often during the day

is usually an unintended brief sleep rather than a planned rest
to drop off
vsto doze off
  • Informal
5 3.0

To fall asleep for a short time, often without meaning to

is usually an unplanned short loss of wakefulness
to drowse
vsto doze off
2 6.1

To be half asleep for a short time

is the quick, unintended short sleep rather than general drowsiness
to nod out
vsto doze off
  • Informal
2 7.9

To fall asleep by accident because you are very tired

is the same short unintended sleep but not always due to exhaustion
to zonk out
vsto doze off
  • Informal
2 8.3

To fall asleep or pass out very quickly because you are very tired

is usually a short, unintended sleep without implying extreme tiredness
to flake out
vsto doze off
  • Informal
1 7.6

To fall asleep suddenly because you are very tired

is typically a brief unplanned sleep rather than a sudden collapse
to drowse off
vsto doze off
5.5

To begin to fall asleep without meaning to

is similar but emphasizes short unintended sleep rather than slow onset

Antonyms

to wake up
∞ 1.0

To stop sleeping or make someone else stop sleeping

to stay up
  • Informal
253 2.4

To be awake later than usual

How Intentional

to go to sleep
369 1.0
to fall asleep
376 1.0
to doze off
  • Informal
35 2.7
to nod off
  • Informal
12 4.1

Surface Forms

doze off infinitive
dozed off past
dozed off past participle
dozing off present participle
dozes off third person singular

Morphology

doze + off

The verb 'doze' already means to fall into light, brief sleep and the particle 'off' simply marks movement into that state, so the combined meaning 'to fall asleep unintentionally' is directly derivable from the constituents. This verb+particle composition is a common, compositional pattern in English and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both words.

Etymology

Doze off comes from a simple image: imagine your mind like a light that slowly goes 'off' as you drift into a light sleep. Here doze means a short, light sleep and off shows moving away from being awake, so it means 'to fall asleep for a short time'.