to set off
1
4.4
- phrasal verb
- The underrepresented are non-Asian and non-white, with white being the dominant group in our society from which minority groups are set off.
Examples
-
Justin dropped and put on one rollerblade and set off that way: one shoe, one skate.
Fiction book (2001) -
The generous donation helped to set off the costs of the new community center.
-
" Never one to give up, Bill set off on a two-hundred-mile march from New York to Boston, population prop in tow.
Academic text (2009) -
Recruiters offer to help migrant workers emigrate from their home villages and promise good jobs for a fee set off against future earnings.
Academic text (2017) -
At the Online Editor's Roundtable at this September's Mequoda Summit East 2011, we will set off to answer the most pressing questions our editorial staffs face.
Blog text (7) -
Her sunny disposition really set off the dark colors of the room.
-
The reduced workload for senior employees was set off by the increase in responsibilities for junior staff.
Synonyms
104
3.7
To change something to reduce a problem caused by something else
96
4.4
To reduce a bad effect by providing something that balances it
44
4.8
To act against something to reduce its effect
40
3.5
Make things equal and make up for a lack so nothing is too much or too little
10
5.1
To balance the effect of something by adding an opposite force
1
9.8
To balance something by acting against it
Antonyms
How Compensatory
- Formal
14
7.7
10
5.1
96
4.4
1
4.4
91
4.2
552
2.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to counterbalance or compensate' is not directly derivable from 'set' (to place or initiate) + 'off' (away), so an average B1 learner knowing the words would likely not predict this specific meaning. There is a loose metaphorical link (off as neutralizing or cancelling), and particle-verb patterns can signal altered meanings, so the relation is partially transparent but requires prior exposure.
Etymology
Set off comes from the picture of putting one thing against another to balance it, as if you place weight on one side to set the other side off. So it came to mean 'to make up for' or 'to balance' a loss or problem.