off

/ɒf/

//ɒf// adv

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

"off" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“off” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #124 in English word frequency and used as an adverb.

#124
frequency rank, English
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In a direction away from the speaker or other reference point.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

off vs on
33% similar
off vs or
33% similar
off vs OH
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for off
PropertyValue
Headwordoff
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
IPA/ɒf/
Letters3
Frequency rank#124
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “off” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). off lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for off is 3 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɒf/. Corpus data places it at rank #124 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for off, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "on", "or", "OH", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Germanic *ab Proto-West Germanic *ab Old English æf Old English of Middle English of English off From Middle English of, from Old English of, af, æf (“from, off, away”), from Proto-West Germanic *ab, from Prot… The correct English form is off, spelled O-F-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    In a direction away from the speaker or other reference point.
  2. 2
    Into a state of non-operation or non-existence.
  3. 3
    So as to remove or separate, or be removed or separated.
  4. 4
    Offstage.
  5. 5
    Used in various other ways specific to individual idiomatic phrases, e.g. bring off, show off, put off, tell off, etc. See the entry for the individual phrase.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Germanic *ab Proto-West Germanic *ab Old English æf Old English of Middle English of English off From Middle English of, from Old English of, af, æf (“from, off, away”), from Proto-West Germanic *ab, from Proto-Germanic *ab (“from”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epo (“from, off, back”). Doublet of of. Cognates Cognate with Scots aff (“away, off”), Saterland Frisian oawe, ou (“from”), West Frisian ôf (“away, off”), Dutch af (“from, off”), German ab (“from, off”), German Low German, Luxembourgish of (“off”), Yiddish אָפּ (op, “off”), Danish, Icelandic af (“from, off”), Faroese, Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk av (“off”), Swedish af, av (“off”), Gothic 𐌰𐍆 (af, “of, from”); and with Latin ab (“of, from, by”), Ancient Greek ἀπό (apó, “from”), and others.

Synonyms

awayout

Antonyms

inon

This word in other languages

éteindre(Français)weg(Deutsch)desligado(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "off"?
"off" is spelled O-F-F. The IPA pronunciation is /ɒf/.
What does "off" mean?
As an adverb, "off" means: In a direction away from the speaker or other reference point.
What words are commonly confused with "off"?
"off" is commonly confused with "on", "or", "OH". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "off"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "off" is /ɒf/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "off"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Germanic *ab Proto-West Germanic *ab Old English æf Old English of Middle English of English off From Middle English of, from Old English of, af, æf (“from, off, away”), from Proto-West Germanic *ab,... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Using “off”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is O-F-F - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ɒf/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “on” - see the side-by-side comparison. off vs on
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list