shove off

verb

"shove-off" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“shove 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
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To set a boat in motion by pushing with an oar or boathook.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shove-off · shove off · English

shove off · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" 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 shove off
PropertyValue
Headwordshove off
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “shove off” in English

shove offfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Rare enough to double-check

shove off is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for shove off, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From shove + off. The correct English form is shove off, spelled S-H-O-V-E- -O-F-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    To set a boat in motion by pushing with an oar or boathook.
  2. 2
    To leave.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Well, it looks like it's time to go. Let's shove off.
  2. Well– Now, don't think you can get around me like that. He's not coming out, and that's my final word. Now, shove off!

Etymology

From shove + off.

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 "shove off"?
"shove off" is spelled S-H-O-V-E- -O-F-F.
What does "shove off" mean?
As a verb, "shove off" means: To set a boat in motion by pushing with an oar or boathook.
What is the origin of the word "shove off"?
From shove + off. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list