to feel off
5
6.3
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
sentirse mal
- Since I started my new job, I have been feeling off and can't concentrate.
- just feel off
If you're unsure if things feel strange, if something feels off, slow down and trust your gut.
- If you're unsure if things feel strange, if something feels off, slow down and trust your gut.
- You're feeling off and you ask yourself, why am I feeling off?
- I've had a couple of these, unfortunately, and you just feel off.
- So then we're like a cup of tea and few little finger sandwiches in and I look at Alex and I was like, I feel off.
- It didn't sound right, like it just it felt off kilter.
Examples
-
Ever since you told me that story, I've just been feeling off.
-
Speak to your doctor if you feel off.
Blog text (7) -
I know things feel off.
-
For the past two weeks, I had been feeling off.
Blog text (12) -
If something feels off, it probably is.
Blog text (4) -
I started feeling off about a month ago.
Blog text (16) -
My pain medication can make me feel off.
-
If you're unsure if things feel strange, if something feels off, slow down and trust your gut.
-
I just feel off.
-
Everything just felt off.
Blog text (10)
Synonyms
73
1.9
To be physically or emotionally uneasy
3
1.8
To be sick or slightly ill
To be a little sick, often after eating bad food
Antonyms
How Well
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to experience discomfort or unease' is directly derivable from combining 'feel' (to experience a sensation) with 'off' (not right/normal), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer that one is experiencing something not quite right. This verb + adjective state pattern is common and cross-linguistically transparent, making the MWE predictable for a B1 learner.
Etymology
Feel off may come from the image of something that has gone bad, like food that is off and makes you sick. That's why to say you 'feel off' means you feel a little 'unwell' or 'not right'.