Off-shore or offshore?
off-shore is an adjective meaning “Alternative form of offshore”; offshore is an adjective meaning “Moving away from the shore”. off-shore is written with a hyphen and offshore as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between off-shore and offshore?
| off-shore | offshore | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective | adjective, adverb, verb, noun |
| Meaning | Alternative form of offshore | Moving away from the shore Located in the sea away from the coast Away from the shore |
| Example | none recorded | an offshore oil rig |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ɒfˈʃɔː(ɹ)/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | 8.1 times per million words |
Sources: off-shore and offshore in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of off-shore and offshore
off-shore
- 1
Alternative form of offshore
offshore
- 1
Moving away from the shore
- 2
Away from the shore
- 3
To move industrial production from one region to another or from one country to another, in order to seek lower business costs, such as labor
- 4
An area of or portion of sea away from the shore
- 5
Located in the sea away from the coast
an offshore oil rig
- 6
At some distance from the shore
- 7
An island, outcrop, or other land away from shore
- 8
Located in another country, especially one having beneficial tax laws or labor costs
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, off-shore or offshore?
off-shore is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; offshore 8.1 times per million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).