to put someone off
1
4.3
- phrasal verb
- /pʊt ˈsʌmˌwʌn ɔf/
- I hope you don't come across any more idiots who might put you off in the future!
- put people off
Examples
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Don't let this lot put you off.
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But if I suggested we do a year or something, he'd just put me off.
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I fear I only put him off for a short while.
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But you really put me off.
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I think my crying was so loud, it put him off.
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It's enough to put you off jazz altogether.
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But you can't let that put you off.
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I hope I didn't put you off your appetite.
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I read a terrible book about a year ago that put me right off indies altogether.
Blog text (28) -
Her constant criticism really put me off wanting to join the team.
Synonyms
152
3.5
To try to stop something by making people less willing to do it
108
5.6
Make someone less likely to do something by making them fear bad results
104
4.4
To make someone feel strong dislike
1
6.5
To stop someone from feeling excited
Antonyms
How Discouraged
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to discourage or make someone lose interest' is loosely connected to 'put' (to place into a state) and 'off' (away/removal), but this is a metaphorical extension rather than a directly compositional meaning. Phrasal verbs like 'put off' have multiple senses (e.g. postpone, repel) and vary across languages, so a B1 learner who only knows the parts would not reliably infer the discouraging sense without prior exposure.
Etymology
The phrasal verb put someone off may come from the simple image of putting someone off something — for example a bad smell or a rude remark makes you step away from food or an idea. So it now means 'to make someone lose interest or to discourage them'.