go off

verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"go-off" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“go off” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To explode.

Corpus desk

Index EN-go-off · go off · English

go off · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "G" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for go off
PropertyValue
Headwordgo off
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “go off” in English

go offranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

go off is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 18 senses are on record.

go off doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is go off, spelled G-O- -O-F-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    To explode.
  2. 2
    To fire, especially accidentally.
  3. 3
    To explode metaphorically; to become very angry or overexcited.
  4. 4
    To begin clanging or making noise.
  5. 5
    To stop operating; to switch off.
  6. 6
    To depart; to leave.
  7. 7
    To putrefy or become inedible, or to become unusable in any way.
  8. 8
    To like gradually less.
  9. 9
    To cure; to set.
  10. 10
    To pass off; to take place; to be accomplished; to happen.
  11. 11
    To ejaculate; to orgasm.
  12. 12
    To perform extremely well; to be impressive or attractive; often used to express encouragement.
  13. 13
    To follow or extrapolate from something; to judge by.
  14. 14
    To fall unconscious; to go to sleep; to die.
  15. 15
    To get married.
  16. 16
    To be spent, disbursed or used up.
  17. 17
    To rant; to talk at length negatively; to insult or criticize.
  18. 18
    To fight or attack.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how go off appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The bomb went off right after the president left his office.
  2. You see the thing had gone off like a box of matches.

This word in other languages

explotar(Español)exploser(Français)explodieren(Deutsch)explodir(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "go off"?
"go off" is spelled G-O- -O-F-F.
What does "go off" mean?
As a verb, "go off" means: To explode.
What language does "go off" come from?
"go off" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list