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Put off meaning

Put off means to decide to do something later than you planned. It can also mean to make someone dislike something or not want to do it.

Check yourself: 3 questionsAll 11 phrasal verbs with put

put something off

put off · put · putting

B1Separable+2 more meanings

We put off the trip until spring.

Put off meanings and examples

3 meanings, each with its own CEFR level from Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries and the Cambridge Dictionary.

  1. 1decide to do something later than you planned
  2. 2make someone dislike something or not want to do it
  3. 3stop someone from thinking about what they are doing
  1. 1

    Decide to do something later than you planned

    put something off

    B1Separable

    • We put off the trip until spring.
    • Stop putting off your homework!
    • The meeting? They put it off until Monday.
  2. 2

    Make someone dislike something or not want to do it

    put somebody off

    B2Separable

    • The smell put me off my food.
    • Don’t let one bad lesson put you off.
    • The long queue put a lot of people off.
  3. 3

    Stop someone from thinking about what they are doing

    put somebody off

    B2Separable

    • Please stop talking. You’re putting me off!
    • The noise from the street put her off in the exam.
    • Don’t watch me while I play. It puts me off.
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Is put off separable?

Put off is separable. You can say put off the meeting or put the meeting off. With a pronoun, it goes in the middle: put it off, not put off it.

When put off means make someone not want something, the person usually goes in the middle: The smell put me off.

Verb tenses for put off

PresentI put off · she puts off
Pastput off
Present perfecthave put off
-ing formputting off

Common mistakes with put off

What learners often say, and what to say instead.

  • Wrong: We put off to go until Friday.

    Right: We put off going until Friday.

    After put off, use the -ing form, not to + verb.

  • Wrong: The dentist? I keep putting off it.

    Right: The dentist? I keep putting it off.

    A pronoun goes between put and off.

  • Wrong: The reviews put off me.

    Right: The reviews put me off.

    When put off means make someone not want something, the person goes in the middle.

Synonyms and opposites of put off

Words close to it, and words that mean the opposite.

Similar

Opposite

Put off quiz

Three quick questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why.

  1. 1I’ve ___ calling the dentist for weeks. Which phrasal verb fits?

  2. 2Choose the right sentence.

  3. 3“The reviews put me off the film.” What happened?

More phrasal verbs with put

All phrasal verbs with put, by level, with an exercise

11 phrasal verbs start with put. Test yourself on all of them in a few minutes.

Test yourself on putTake the full test

Put off FAQ

Questions people ask about put off.

What is the difference between put off and postpone?

They mean the same thing: move something to a later time. Postpone is more formal. In conversation, most people say put off.

What does put me off mean?

It means something made you not want to do or have something. The price put me off means you did not buy it because of the price.

What is the word for always putting things off?

Procrastinate. If you procrastinate, you keep putting off things you should do.

What is the past tense of put off?

Put off. Put is the same in the present, the past and the past participle: I put it off yesterday, and I have put it off again.

Use put off in real conversations

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