Put off
2 meanings · select one to explore
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Meaning 1 of 3
Definition
To disgust or discourage someone
Example sentence
His attitude really puts me off.
Real video usage
Three clips showing this meaning in natural speech.
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Common collocations
Natural word pairings to memorize.
Common pattern: put + someone + off + noun/gerund
- put someone off their food
- put someone off the idea
- put someone off trying
- really put me off
- put me off for life
Separable usage
Can the object split the verb? Compare correct vs incorrect.
The smell put me off my food. ✅ (Correct — always separated with a pronoun object)
The smell put off me my food. ❌ (Incorrect)
Meaning 1 of 3
Definition
To postpone
Example sentence
They put off the meeting until Monday.
Real video usage
Three clips showing this meaning in natural speech.
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Don’t see captions? Click the CC button on the video to turn them on.
Don’t see captions? Click the CC button on the video to turn them on.
Common collocations
Natural word pairings to memorize.
Common pattern: put off + noun/gerund
- put off the meeting
- put off a decision
- put off the appointment
- put off studying
- put off doing something
Separable usage
Can the object split the verb? Compare correct vs incorrect.
We put off the meeting. ✅ (Correct)
We put the meeting off. ✅ (Correct)