The phrasal verb put off usually means to postpone something until a later time, but it can also mean to discourage, disgust, or distract someone. In standard modern English, “put off” is a transitive, separable phrasal verb: speakers can say “put off the meeting,” “put the meeting off,” or “put it off,” but not “put off it.”
Key Facts at a Glance
- Put off + noun commonly means to postpone an event, task, appointment, or decision.
- Put someone off means to discourage, repel, or reduce someone’s interest or appetite.
- Put someone off their game means to distract them and reduce their concentration or performance.
- A pronoun must come between the verb and particle: put it off, not put off it.
- When “put off” postpones an action, the following verb normally uses the -ing form: “put off replying.”
- “Put off” usually indicates delay, while call off indicates cancellation.
What Is the Meaning of the Phrasal Verb “Put Off”?
The main meaning of put off is “to postpone,” but the phrase has several related meanings that depend on its object and surrounding context. “We put off the meeting” describes a delayed event, while “The smell put me off my dinner” describes a loss of appetite or interest.
The particle off contributes an idea of moving something away from the present moment, removing enthusiasm, or interrupting concentration. The meanings are therefore related, although they are not interchangeable in every sentence.
| Meaning | Pattern | Example | Plain-English sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postpone | put off + event or task | “They put off the launch.” | Delay it |
| Discourage | put someone off + thing | “The price put me off.” | Made me lose interest |
| Repel or disgust | put someone off + food or person | “The smell put me off lunch.” | Made me dislike or reject it |
| Distract | put someone off + activity | “Noise put her off her work.” | Interrupted concentration |
| Historical dismounting | put off + passenger | “The sailor put off the passenger.” | Helped someone leave transport |
The postponement sense is the safest meaning for English learners to master first. The aversion sense is also common, especially in British English, where “That put me off” can mean “That made me dislike it or lose interest.”
How Does “Put Off” Work Grammatically?
“Put off” is transitive because the postponement and aversion meanings normally need an object. It is separable because a noun object can appear either after “off” or between “put” and “off,” although pronouns follow a stricter placement rule.
Where Does the Object Go?
A noun phrase can appear in either position, but a pronoun must appear between “put” and “off.” This rule applies to “it,” “him,” “her,” “us,” and “them.”
| Sentence pattern | Example | Correct? | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| put off + noun | “We put off the inspection.” | Yes | Standard noun placement |
| put + noun + off | “We put the inspection off.” | Yes | Separable alternative |
| put + pronoun + off | “We put it off.” | Yes | Required pronoun placement |
| put off + pronoun | “We put off it.” | No | Pronoun cannot follow “off” |
| put off + noun clause | “She put off what she had planned.” | Yes | Clause functions as object |
The noun-placement options are grammatically equivalent, but they do not always sound equally natural. Long objects usually remain after “off”: “They put off the annual safety inspection for another month.” Short pronouns move into the middle.
Which Verb Form Follows “Put Off”?
When “put off” means postponing an action, the next verb normally takes a gerund, or -ing form, rather than “to” plus the base verb. The correct pattern is put off doing something.
| Incorrect form | Correct form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| “He put off to call the dentist.” | “He put off calling the dentist.” | Delayed the call |
| “We put off to make a decision.” | “We put off making a decision.” | Delayed the decision |
| “She put it off to reply.” | “She put it off replying.” | Delayed replying |
| “They put off signing the contract.” | “They put off signing the contract.” | Correct already |
English also allows a noun phrase after “put off”: “We put off the decision.” A useful transformation is:
- “They put off the repairs.”
- “They put off repairing the roof.”
The second version names the action with a gerund.
Can “Put Off” Be Used in the Passive Voice?
The passive form is common when something causes discouragement or disgust. “I was put off by his rude tone” means that his tone reduced my interest or created a negative reaction.
The passive construction is:
subject + be + put off + by + cause
Examples include:
- “Customers were put off by the hidden fee.”
- “She was put off by the restaurant’s dirty tables.”
- “The candidate was put off by the aggressive interview.”
- “I was put off by how loudly they spoke.”
The passive also works with postponement, although “be postponed” is often more formal and precise: “The hearing was put off until Friday” is natural, while “The hearing was postponed until Friday” sounds more official.
What Are the Main Uses of “Put Off”?
Modern English uses “put off” in three common semantic categories: postponement, aversion, and distraction. A fourth sense, involving leaving or unloading from transport, survives mainly in historical, dialectal, or highly specialized contexts.
1. “Put Off” Means Postpone
In the postponement sense, “put off” moves a planned activity from its expected time to a later time. The activity usually remains possible or intended, so the expression does not automatically imply cancellation.
Examples:
- “We had to put off the picnic because of rain.”
- “Please do not put off your application until the deadline.”
- “The manager put off the meeting until next Tuesday.”
- “I keep putting off cleaning the garage.”
- “They put the repairs off for six weeks.”
Common time expressions include until, to, for, and another:
- “put off the interview until May”
- “put off the payment to next month”
- “put off the decision for two weeks”
- “put off the appointment for another day”
The phrase can describe a deliberate decision or repeated avoidance. “The train strike put off the meeting” identifies an external cause; “I put off the meeting because I was unprepared” identifies a human decision.
2. “Put Off” Means Discourage or Repel
In the aversion sense, “put off” means to make someone lose interest, confidence, appetite, or attraction. The object may be a person, behavior, smell, taste, price, design, or experience.
Examples:
- “The bitter taste put me off coffee.”
- “His constant complaining put me off the trip.”
- “The complicated checkout process put me off buying the product.”
- “The strong smell put the diners off their food.”
- “Her dismissive answer put me off asking another question.”
The construction can describe a temporary reaction or a lasting change in attitude. “The first episode put me off the series” usually means the speaker stopped wanting to continue, while “The loud music put me off my work” usually means the distraction lasted only during the activity.
British speakers use this sense particularly often in food and social situations. American English also uses it, but “turn off,” “discourage,” or “make someone lose interest” may be more frequent alternatives in some contexts.
3. “Put Someone Off Their Game” Means Distract
“Put someone off” can mean interrupting concentration or reducing performance. The phrase put someone off their game is an established idiom, especially in sport, competition, presentations, and skilled work.
Examples:
- “The crowd noise put the goalkeeper off.”
- “The unexpected question put me off my presentation.”
- “The camera put the actor off his lines.”
- “Her repeated interruptions put him off his game.”
- “A late change to the software put the team off its routine.”
This meaning differs from aversion because the person may still like the activity. A tennis player can be put off by noise without disliking tennis. Context supplies the difference.
4. Historical and Uncommon Transport Meaning
Older dictionaries record “put off” in senses connected with putting someone ashore, leaving a boat, or unloading something. Modern speakers rarely use this meaning in ordinary conversation, and “let off,” “drop off,” or “unload” is normally clearer.
For example, a historical maritime text might describe a passenger being “put off” a vessel. In current English, say:
- “The driver dropped the passenger off.”
- “The crew put the equipment ashore.”
- “The bus let us off near the station.”
Treat the transport sense as marked and context-dependent. It should not be presented as equally common with postponement or aversion.
Which Tenses and Forms Can “Put Off” Take?
“Put” has the same form in the present and past tense, while the participle is also “put.” The particle remains “off” in every tense, but auxiliary verbs change the time or aspect.
| Form | Example | Time or function |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | “I put off difficult calls.” | Habit |
| Past simple | “We put off the vote.” | Completed past delay |
| Present perfect | “She has put off replying.” | Past action relevant now |
| Past perfect | “They had put off the inspection.” | Earlier past action |
| Present continuous | “He is putting off the decision.” | Action in progress |
| Infinitive | “They plan to put off the launch.” | Future or intended action |
| -ing form | “Putting off repairs increases costs.” | Subject or gerund phrase |
The phrase can appear with modal verbs: “You should not put off medical advice,” “We may put off the announcement,” and “They might put the project off.” In formal health or legal contexts, choose a precise noun and consult an appropriate professional rather than relying on a vague idiom.
What Is the Difference Between “Put Off” and Similar Expressions?
“Put off” is natural in everyday speech and general writing, but alternative verbs can communicate cancellation, repeated avoidance, or formal scheduling more precisely.
| Expression | Core meaning | Typical register | Example | Key limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| put off | Delay or discourage | Informal to neutral | “They put off the meeting.” | Can have several meanings |
| postpone | Move to a later time | Neutral to formal | “The hearing was postponed.” | Does not mean disgust |
| defer | Delay a decision or obligation | Formal, administrative | “The board deferred the vote.” | Less natural for household tasks |
| reschedule | Set a new date or time | Neutral, practical | “We rescheduled the appointment.” | Usually implies a replacement schedule |
| procrastinate | Delay through avoidance | Neutral, psychological | “He procrastinates over paperwork.” | Does not mean an external postponement |
| call off | Cancel a planned event | Informal to neutral | “They called off the match.” | Normally means no event will occur |
| turn off | Cause dislike or reduce attraction | Informal | “The noise turned me off.” | Less suitable for postponement |
“Put Off” Versus “Postpone”
“Postpone” is the clearest choice for formal notices, legal documents, academic writing, and public announcements. “Put off” sounds more conversational but remains fully grammatical in emails and workplace speech.
Compare:
- “The committee postponed the hearing until June.” Formal and official.
- “We put off the meeting until June.” Conversational and neutral.
- “The company postponed the product launch.” Suitable for business reporting.
- “I put off updating the spreadsheet.” Natural for an everyday task.
Neither verb necessarily means permanent cancellation. Both usually suggest that the activity may happen later.
“Put Off” Versus “Reschedule”
“Reschedule” emphasizes that a new time has been arranged. “Put off” emphasizes delay and may leave the replacement date unknown.
- “We put off the appointment.” The appointment is delayed; no new date is specified.
- “We rescheduled the appointment for 14 June at 10:00.” A replacement time exists.
Use “reschedule” when recipients need an operational detail. Use “put off” when the conversational focus is the act of delaying.
“Put Off” Versus “Procrastinate”
“Procrastinate” describes a person’s repeated or avoidant delay, whereas “put off” can describe one decision caused by weather, illness, logistics, or another person. Procrastination often carries criticism or a psychological explanation.
- “The storm put off the match.” External cause.
- “The player procrastinated over registering.” Avoidant behavior.
- “I put off replying because I needed more information.” One delayed action.
- “I procrastinate whenever a task feels uncertain.” Repeated tendency.
A person can procrastinate by putting off a task, but the two expressions are not synonyms in every sentence.
“Put Off” Versus “Call Off”
“Put off” normally postpones an event; “call off” cancels it. The distinction matters when communicating schedules, travel, examinations, weddings, matches, or public meetings.
| Situation | Correct expression | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Meeting moved from Monday to Wednesday | “Put off” or “reschedule” | Meeting still happens |
| Match abandoned because of unsafe weather | “Call off” | Match will not happen as planned |
| Appointment delayed without new date | “Put off” | Future timing remains open |
| Event canceled permanently | “Call off” or “cancel” | Event is not proceeding |
| Launch delayed until next quarter | “Put off” or “postpone” | Launch remains intended |
A sentence can be ambiguous if the context does not identify the outcome. “The concert was put off” usually suggests postponement, but add “until September” or “indefinitely” when the schedule matters.
Is “Put Off” Formal or Informal?
“Put off” is neutral in ordinary conversation and acceptable in many emails, but “postpone,” “defer,” or “reschedule” is usually better for contracts, official notices, academic prose, and international business documentation. Register depends on the sentence, audience, and consequence of ambiguity.
| Communication context | Preferred wording | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Conversation with a friend | “Put off the visit” | Natural and concise |
| Internal team chat | “Put off the review” | Clear in familiar context |
| Client email | “Reschedule the review” | Supplies practical scheduling meaning |
| Legal notice | “Postpone the hearing” | Formal and unambiguous |
| Academic essay | “Postpone the experiment” | Standard formal vocabulary |
| Contract clause | “Defer payment” | Precise administrative meaning |
The claim that “put off” is too informal for every business setting is too broad. A manager can write, “We had to put off the site visit because the supplier was unavailable,” without creating a grammatical or stylistic problem. Formal alternatives become preferable when the message records an official decision or defines an obligation.
What Are the Most Common Errors?
The most frequent errors involve pronoun placement, verb form, and confusion between delay and cancellation. Correcting the structure is usually more important than replacing “put off” with a more formal synonym.
- Incorrect pronoun position
- Incorrect: “I put off it.”
- Correct: “I put it off.”
- Using an infinitive after the postponement sense
- Incorrect: “She put off to study.”
- Correct: “She put off studying.”
- Confusing postponement with cancellation
- “The event was put off until Friday” means delayed.
- “The event was called off” means canceled.
- Using “by” with the wrong meaning
- “I was put off by the smell” means the smell caused aversion.
- “I put off the meeting by the smell” is not a normal equivalent.
- Leaving the object unclear
- Less clear: “They put it off.”
- Clearer when context is limited: “They postponed the inspection until July.”
- Assuming “put off” always means procrastinate
- “The power failure put off the presentation” identifies an external interruption.
- “He procrastinated over the presentation” describes avoidant behavior.
A practical editing rule is to replace “put off” with “postpone” temporarily. If the sentence still means delay, the postponement sense is probably intended. If the sentence means disgust, distraction, or loss of interest, choose a different paraphrase.
How Can You Choose the Right Meaning?
Identify the object and the result before interpreting “put off.” An event, task, or appointment usually signals postponement; a person’s reaction, food, smell, price, or behavior usually signals aversion; an activity or performance context may signal distraction.
Use this decision sequence:
- Find the object.
“Put off the interview” and “put me off” have different structures. - Ask what changed.
If the time changed, the meaning is postpone. If interest or appetite changed, the meaning is discourage or repel. - Check for “by.”
“Was put off by” normally introduces the cause of a negative reaction. - Check the activity context.
“Put off my game” or “put off her concentration” indicates distraction. - Check the time phrase.
“Until Friday,” “for two weeks,” and “to next month” strongly indicate delay.
| Sentence | Likely meaning | Diagnostic clue |
|---|---|---|
| “We put off the inspection until June.” | Postpone | Future time |
| “The delay put me off the purchase.” | Discourage | Changed interest |
| “The noise put her off her game.” | Distract | Performance activity |
| “They put off the passengers at the dock.” | Historical dismounting | Transport context |
| “I put off answering the email.” | Postpone | Gerund action |
Context can still leave a sentence ambiguous. “The interview put me off” could mean the interview was postponed if “it” refers to the event, or that the interview discouraged the speaker if “me” is the object. The surrounding words resolve the interpretation.
Does “Put Off” Mean the Same Thing in British and American English?
“Put off” is used in both British and American English, but the aversion meaning may feel more frequent or immediately natural to British speakers. American speakers also understand “put me off,” while “turn me off,” “discourage me,” or “make me lose interest” may be preferred in particular situations.
The postponement meaning is broadly shared:
- British English: “They’ve put the meeting off until Thursday.”
- American English: “They put the meeting off until Thursday.”
The spelling and grammar do not change between the major varieties. Regional differences mainly affect frequency, collocation, and preferred alternatives. International writers should add a time phrase when discussing schedules and name the negative reaction when discussing aversion.
How Do You Use “Put Off” in Real Situations?
Everyday examples show how the object determines the sense. The following sentences cover common contexts in which learners may otherwise choose “delay,” “cancel,” “discourage,” or “distract.”
Work and Administration
- “The finance team put off the budget review until Monday.”
- “We put the supplier call off because the data was incomplete.”
- “The unclear instructions put me off submitting the form.”
- “The constant notifications put her off writing the report.”
Education
- “Students often put off revising until the week before an exam.”
- “The difficult first chapter put him off reading the book.”
- “The noise outside put the candidate off during the test.”
Food and Health
- “The smell put me off my breakfast.”
- “One bad experience put her off eating shellfish.”
- “The bitter medicine put the child off taking tablets.”
Relationships and Social Situations
- “His refusal to apologize put me off dating him.”
- “The expensive menu put us off the restaurant.”
- “Her kind explanation did not put me off asking for help.”
Sport and Performance
- “The heckling put the player off.”
- “A poor warm-up put the runner off her rhythm.”
- “The unexpected question put the speaker off his presentation.”
In each example, the phrase communicates more than a dictionary definition. It also indicates whether the change affected timing, desire, appetite, or concentration.
What Are the Key Collocations With “Put Off”?
Common collocations make the phrase easier to recognize and produce naturally. Postponement collocations often involve tasks and dates, while aversion collocations involve causes and reactions.
| Collocation | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| put off a meeting | “They put off the meeting.” | Delay an event |
| put off a decision | “The board put off its decision.” | Delay choosing |
| put off doing something | “She put off replying.” | Delay an action |
| put off until Friday | “We put it off until Friday.” | Delay to a date |
| put someone off food | “The smell put him off food.” | Reduce appetite |
| put someone off buying | “The fee put me off buying it.” | Discourage purchase |
| put someone off their game | “The noise put her off her game.” | Distract performance |
| be put off by something | “He was put off by the attitude.” | React negatively |
The phrase put off doing something is especially useful because it identifies the delayed action directly. “I put off the call” is grammatical, but “I put off calling the client” gives the listener more information.
What Do Reliable Sources Say About These Usage Claims?
Major learner dictionaries, including Cambridge Dictionary, Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, and Merriam-Webster, support the principal meanings of “put off” as postponing and causing someone to lose interest or appetite. These references also document related uses involving distraction and, in some dictionaries, historical transport contexts.
No reliable general linguistic source establishes the supplied claims that native speakers decode “put off” in 40-50 milliseconds, that non-native speakers experience a 100-150 millisecond delay, or that the phrase appears 85% in casual language and 15% in formal writing. Those figures should not be treated as established facts because processing speed varies with speaker, context, proficiency, prosody, and experimental method, while register percentages require a defined corpus and sampling method.
A further correction concerns the statement that “put off” is among the top 100 phrasal verbs. Ranking depends on the corpus, lemma definition, spoken-versus-written dataset, and treatment of inflected forms. A defensible description is that “put off” is a common, widely understood phrasal verb, not that one universal frequency rank applies.
FAQ
Is “put off” always negative?
No. The postponement sense is not inherently negative, although the reason for delaying may be inconvenient. “The meeting was put off until Friday” is neutral, while “The smell put me off dinner” expresses a negative reaction. Tone comes from the cause and context, not from the phrase alone.
Can I say “put off the meeting” and “put the meeting off”?
Yes. Both forms are correct with a noun object. Use “put it off” with a pronoun, because English requires the pronoun between “put” and “off.” The same rule gives “put them off,” “put her off,” and “put us off,” not “put off them.”
Is “put off” followed by “to” or “-ing”?
Use the -ing form when “put off” means postponing an action: “They put off leaving,” not “They put off to leave.” A noun is also possible, as in “They put off their departure.” The gerund pattern identifies the postponed activity directly.
What does “I was put off by him” mean?
“I was put off by him” means his behavior, appearance, words, or attitude reduced your interest or created an unfavorable reaction. The phrase does not usually mean that he physically moved you away. For scheduling, say “The meeting with him was postponed.”
Is “put off” the same as “delay”?
“Put off” and “delay” can both mean moving something to a later time, but “put off” also means discourage, repel, or distract. “The storm delayed the flight” and “The storm put off the flight” can describe postponement, whereas “The smell put me off the meal” cannot use “delay” with the same meaning.
What is the difference between “put off” and “call off”?
“Put off” normally means postpone, so the event is expected to happen later. “Call off” means cancel, so the event will not happen as planned. Add a date when possible: “The match was put off until Sunday” shows delay, while “The match was called off” shows cancellation.
The Bottom Line
The phrasal verb put off most commonly means to postpone an event, task, or action, but it can also mean to discourage, repel, or distract someone. Use “put off + noun” or “put + noun + off,” place pronouns in the middle, and follow the postponement sense with an -ing verb. Choose “postpone,” “reschedule,” or “defer” when formal precision matters, and choose “call off” when an event is canceled rather than delayed.
