cut off from — to be separated from something or someone
phrasal verbB1IELTS 5+neutralcommon
To be unable to reach or connect with people, places, or things, often because something is blocking or stopping you.
Say it like a native
Textbook The village became inaccessible due to the flooding.
Native The village was cut off by the floods.
'Cut off' is the natural verb for being unreachable; 'became inaccessible due to' is news-bulletin formal.
Pattern: be/get cut off from [noun/pronoun]
In use
- After the storm, the village was completely cut off from the rest of the country.daily life
- If I lost internet access, I would feel cut off from my friends and all the news.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ We were cut off to the outside world.
✓ We were cut off from the outside world.
It's 'cut off FROM' something/someone — not 'to'.
Common collocations
cut off from + place/people— from the world, from help, by the snow, completely
Don't confuse it
'Cut off' alone can mean to stop something suddenly (like 'cut off the water'), but 'cut off from' means you are separated or isolated.