to write off
3
4.1
- phrasal verb
- /ˈraɪt ɔf/
- Informal
:
escribir de un tirón
- For weeks in August and September, while conservative pundits increasingly began writing off Mitt Romney's campaign as hapless and hopeless, top aides to the Republican presidential hopeful privately preached patience and resolve.
Examples
-
She can easily write off her thoughts in a single sitting during her creative writing class.
-
It's too easy to write off country schools as inferior and the locals as ignorant simply because they live far from the nearest big city museum.
Blog text (19) -
We finance it, and I can write off the interest as well.
-
The hospital will write off the bill to the government.
Blog text (15) -
It's too early to tell, but I wouldn't write him off.
Academic text (2010) -
I personally believe he writes off some of the current reform initiatives too quickly.
Fiction book (2002) -
And since they said your business doesn't have to be profitable, you may pay $300 for the business, but you can write off thousands more.
Blog text (15) -
The author was able to write off a complete chapter in just a few hours without any difficulty.
-
After reviewing the notes, he confidently wrote off the entire essay in one go.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Put letters and words onto a surface using a pen or keyboard
27
2.9
To write a short note quickly to remember something
11
6.0
To write something carefully, often a long text
8
3.9
To write something quickly as a short note
4
6.1
Make something quickly with little effort
3
5.1
To write something quickly without much care
1
4.4
To write something quickly without much care
1
4.4
To write something quickly without much care
To write something quickly without much effort
To make something quickly with little effort
How Effortless
- Informal
3
4.1
102
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
write + off
The sense 'to regard as a loss or not worth further consideration' is related to the literal senses of 'write' and the particle 'off' but relies on a phrasal-verb idiomatic extension (originally accounting: to remove from accounts). The connection is partially transparent — a learner might guess a removal/ending sense from 'off' but would not reliably infer the specific evaluative/financial meaning without prior exposure, so it is semi-transparent.
Etymology
Write off comes from the image of quickly putting words down and sending them away; writers would often write something and mark it off as finished. That's why it means 'to write quickly and without hesitation'.