Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
⏳ To delay 🙅 To discourage
to put off

to put off

129 2.9
Delay something until a later time
  • phrasal verb
: posponer
  • He decided to put off his trip until the weather improved.
  • put off doing things
  • put off until the last minute
  • put off too long

And to be honest, I keep putting it off because I love technology.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Please don't ignore these symptoms or put off going to the doctor.

  • But she planned to put that day off as long as she could.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • So I have been putting off getting an electric car.

  • And to be honest, I keep putting it off because I love technology.

    Molly Burke

  • And so there are a lot of people who put off buying a house for many years.

    The Prof G Pod – Scott Galloway

  • I put it off every single chance I got.

    Cast Away (2000)

  • As the months went by, she put off the decision to file for divorce.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • I have decided to put off reading Harry Potter until November.

    Destiny Sidwell

  • And how many projects have you put off or dreams have you put on the shelf?

  • I'm gonna write that novel I've been putting off.

    Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006)

Synonyms

to delay
vsto put off
442 1.4

To make something happen later than planned

is the general act of moving something to a later time
to stall
vsto put off
218 4.3

To delay doing something on purpose to get more time

is the neutral action of moving something to a later time
to postpone
vsto put off
214 3.4

To delay something until a later time because of a problem

is the basic action of moving something to a later time
to hold off
vsto put off
99 3.8

To wait before doing something

is the general choice to move something to a later time
to defer
vsto put off
  • Formal
68 5.5

To delay something until a later time

is the common act of moving something to a later time
to hold off on
vsto put off
41 4.2

To wait before doing something

is the general move to a later time rather than immediate action
to table
vsto put off
  • Formal
20 7.3

To delay discussion or a decision about something until later

is the broader act of changing timing, not limited to meetings
to shelve
vsto put off
14 5.0

To stop work on a plan or project for now

is the usual action of later timing without suggesting inactivity
to put on the back burner
vsto put off
8 5.6

To delay dealing with something until later and make it less important

is the simple act of moving timing rather than lowering priority
to stall for time
vsto put off
  • Informal
6 4.8

To delay doing something to get more time

is the ordinary act of moving timing, not a tactical delay
to hold over
vsto put off
5 4.6

To keep something for use or sale after its planned time

is about shifting timing rather than lengthening or extending time
to keep on ice
vsto put off
2 7.9

To delay something and keep it for later use

is the standard action of moving timing, not reserving for use
to put on ice
vsto put off
2 5.8

To delay a plan or project for a while

keeps the same later timing but is more general and neutral
to punt the project
vsto put off
  • Informal
8.8

Delay a project to work on more important tasks

is the general move to a later time, not necessarily reprioritising
to do it mañana
vsto put off
  • Informal
9.9

To wait until tomorrow to do something instead of doing it now

is the standard move to a later time without casual tone
to get a tuit
vsto put off
  • Informal
9.9

Delay doing something by joking you will do it someday

is the neutral act of moving timing without joking tone

Antonyms

to hasten
28 4.6

Make something happen sooner

How Delayed

to shelve
14 5.0
to postpone
214 3.4
to put off
129 2.9
to delay
442 1.4
to pause
336 1.0

Surface Forms

put off infinitive
put off past
put off past participle
putting off present participle
puts off third person singular

Morphology

put + off

The sense 'to discourage or repel' has a loose, metaphorical connection to the constituents: 'put' (place) + 'off' (away/from) can be construed as placing someone away from something, but this inference is not fully direct. The verb is also polysemous (e.g. 'put off' = postpone), so the discouraging sense is not reliably predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure.

Etymology

Put off comes from the simple image of moving something away to another time: you put a task off your desk to do it later. That's why it now means 'delay' or 'postpone'.