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offset

/ˈɔf.sɛt/noun, verb, adverb, adjective

offset is spelled O-F-F-S-E-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 9.8 times per million words in written English, the 7,224th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, offset means “Anything that acts as counterbalance; a compensating equivalent” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of offset is offsets.

How many letters and syllables are in offset?

Letters6: O-F-F-S-E-T
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing9.8 times per million words; the 7,224th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How common is offset?

Offset appears 9.8 times per million words in written English, the 7,224th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce offset?

  • UK /ˈɒf.sɛt/
  • US /ˈɔf.sɛt/
  • /ˈɑf.sɛt/

Offset has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-offset1.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-offset2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with offset

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

off-set vs offset0 B

Also written: off-set (one word or two).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of offset

  • offsets plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • off-set
  • offsetting participle, present
  • offsetted participle, past, rare
  • more offset comparative
  • most offset superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does offset mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Anything that acts as counterbalance; a compensating equivalent.

    Today's victory was an offset to yesterday's defeat.

  2. 2

    A form of countertrade arrangement, in which the seller agrees to purchase within a set time frame products of a certain value from the buying country. This kind of agreement may be used in large international public sector contracts such as arms sales.

  3. 3

    A time at which something begins; outset.

  4. 4

    The offset printing process, in which ink is carried from a metal plate to a rubber blanket and from there to the printing surface.

    offset lithographs

  5. 5

    The difference between a target memory address and a base address.

    An array of bytes uses its index as the offset, of words a multiple thereof.

  6. 6

    The displacement between the base level of a measurement and the signal's real base level.

    The raw signal data was subjected to a baseline correction process to subtract the sensor's offset and drift variations.

  7. 7

    The distance by which one thing is out of alignment with another.

    There is a small offset between the switch and the indicator which some users found confusing.

  8. 8

    A short distance measured at right angles from a line actually run to some point in an irregular boundary, or to some object.

verb

  1. 1

    To counteract or compensate for, by applying a change in the opposite direction.

    I'll offset the time difference locally.

  2. 2

    To place out of line.

  3. 3

    To form an offset in (a wall, rod, pipe, etc.).

adverb

  1. 1

    Away from or off from the set of a movie, film, video, or play.

adjective

  1. 1

    Away from or off from the set of a movie, film, video, or play.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Offset in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcompensation (compensating equivalent), offset, compensation industrielle (countertrade arrangement), début (time at which something begins), compenser, contrebalancer (to compensate for something)
GermanKompensierung (compensating equivalent), Anbeginn (time at which something begins), ausgleichen (to compensate for something), Adressabstand, Offset (difference in memory addresses), Abweichung (distance by which one thing is out of alignment…)
Portuguesecompensação, contrapartida (compensating equivalent), início (time at which something begins), offset (difference in memory addresses), desalinhamento, diferença (distance by which one thing is out of alignment…)
Spanishsubsanar, desfasar (to compensate for something), desplazamiento (difference in memory addresses), desfase, desfasaje (distance by which one thing is out of alignment…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does offset come from?

From off- + set, used to construct the noun form of the verb to set off. Compare Middle English ofsetten (“to encumber, harass, beset, besiege”), from Old English ofsettan (“to press, oppress, overwhelm, crush”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after offset