Adjacent Words

put off definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: hold back to a later time; "let's postpone the exam" [syn: postpone, prorogue, hold over, put over, table, shelve, set back, defer, remit, put off]
2: cause to feel intense dislike or distaste [syn: turn off, put off]
3: take away the enthusiasm of [syn: dishearten, put off] [ant: cheer, embolden, hearten, recreate]
4: cause to feel embarrassment; "The constant attention of the young man confused her" [syn: confuse, flurry, disconcert, put off]
5: avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues); "He dodged the issue"; "she skirted the problem"; "They tend to evade their responsibilities"; "he evaded the questions skillfully" [syn: hedge, fudge, evade, put off, circumvent, parry, elude, skirt, dodge, duck, sidestep]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb Date: 14th century 1. a. disconcert b. repel 2. a. to hold back to a later time b. to induce to wait <put the bill collector off> 3. to rid oneself of ; take off 4. to sell or pass fraudulently

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If you put something off, you delay doing it. Women who put off having a baby often make the best mothers... The Association has put the event off until October. = postpone PHRASAL VERB: V P -ing/n (not pron), V n P 2. If you put someone off, you make them wait for something that they want. The old priest tried to put them off, saying that the hour was late. PHRASAL VERB: V n P 3. If something puts you off something, it makes you dislike it, or decide not to do or have it. The high divorce figures don't seem to be putting people off marriage... His personal habits put them off... The country's worsening reputation does not seem to be putting off the tourists... We tried to visit the Abbey but were put off by the queues. PHRASAL VERB: V n P n/-ing, V n P, V P n (not pron), be V-ed P 4. If someone or something puts you off, they take your attention from what you are trying to do and make it more difficult for you to do it. She asked me to be serious–said it put her off if I laughed... It put her off revising for her exams. = distract PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V n P n/-ing

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. (Active.) 1. Discard, renounce, reject, cast aside, lay aside, divest one's self of. 2. Defeat, frustrate, disappoint, turn aside, baffle. 3. Defer, delay, procrastinate, postpone. 4. Get rid of, dispose of, pass fraudulently. II. (Neuter.) Leave shore, put to sea, put forth, push from land.

Moby Thesaurus

about the bush, adjourn, appall, bear off, beat around, beg the question, blind, blunt, cast off, chill, cloak, color, continue, cool, cover, cover story, cover-up, dally, damp, dampen, defer, deflect, delay, deter, device, dillydally, disaffect, discourage, disgust, disincline, disinterest, distract, divert, dodge, doff, douse, drag out, drop, duck, embark, equivocate, excuse, extend, facade, feint, fence, front, get under way, give offense, gloss, go off soundings, go to sea, gross out, guise, handle, hang fire, hang up, haul off, have way upon, hedge, hem and haw, hold off, hold over, hold up, horrify, indispose, lag, lame excuse, lay aside, lay by, lay over, linger, locus standi, loiter, mask, nauseate, offend, ostensible motive, parry, pigeonhole, poke, poor excuse, postpone, pretense, pretension, pretext, procrastinate, prolong, prorogate, prorogue, protestation, protract, public motive, pull away, pull back, push aside, push off, pussyfoot, put aside, put on ice, put to sea, quench, recess, recoil, refuge, remove, repel, reserve, revolt, run from, sail, sail away, sail away from, screen, semblance, set aside, set by, sham, sheer off, shelve, shift, shift off, shock, shove off, show, shrink, shy, shy away, shy off, sicken, sidestep, sleep on, slip out of, smoke screen, stalking-horse, stand from, stand off, stand over, stave off, stay, steer away from, step aside, step out of, stratagem, stretch out, subterfuge, suspend, swerve, table, take a recess, take off, tarry, temporize, throw off, trail, trick, turn aside, turn away, turn from, turn off, turn the stomach, undo, unwrap, varnish, veil, waive, ward off, wean from