to let off
123
3.5
- phrasal verb
- /lɛt ɔf/
- Suppose I let you off with a warning this time.
- let off the hook
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Watch on YouTubePeople get, people get let off with a lot of things.
- People get, people get let off with a lot of things.
- And I recognize now I've let these people off.
- Do I think I'm going to let him off here?
- So I'll let you off that one.
- And some of that self forgiveness is to let that childhood you off the off the hook.
Examples
-
I'm sure they'll let you off easy.
-
His mother will be glad you let him off so easily.
Fiction book (1995) -
What are you gonna do if they let you off?
-
I'll let you off this time.
-
Seeing as how you and me are old friends, I'm gonna just let you off with a warning.
-
There was talk of the university pressing charges, but they let him off with counseling.
Fiction book (2000) -
Instead, all governments agreed to let each other off the hook by effectively allowing everyone's emissions to rise.
Academic text (2012) -
When we got to the bottom, to Porta Romana, he let us off.
Academic text (2002) -
They let O-Dog off with a warning because he was still a minor.
-
The judge decided to let off the defendant with community service instead of jail time.
Synonyms
∞
1.8
To let someone or something go free from being held
512
1.5
Allow someone to leave a place or activity
246
3.4
Escape blame or punishment for doing something wrong
131
3.2
Free someone from a duty or responsibility
118
3.8
Avoid doing a task or taking blame you should accept
118
6.0
To avoid punishment for a crime or charge
110
4.4
Officially release someone from a duty, job, or responsibility
52
4.1
To free someone from blame or punishment
42
7.2
Make someone officially free from blame, guilt, or responsibility
38
4.1
To free someone officially from a rule or obligation
5
1.8
To excuse someone from a duty or rule
2
6.0
Freed from blame or responsibility for something
2
6.5
Receive little or no punishment for a mistake
Antonyms
How Excused
- Formal
77
8.2
- Formal
69
3.9
116
7.4
123
3.5
∞
1.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'let' (allow) and 'off' (away/release) give a plausible compositional sense of allowing someone to be released, so learners can partially infer the core idea. However, the specific legal/disciplinary sense 'excuse from punishment or responsibility' is a conventionalized phrasal-verb meaning that is not fully predictable from the parts, so it is only partly transparent.
Etymology
The phrasal verb let off may come from the simple image of someone being let off a rope or hook that held them, so they could go free. That's why today it means 'to excuse or free someone from punishment or from a duty'.