put off — postpone
phrasal verbB1IELTS 5+neutralcommon
to delay doing something until a later time.
Say it like a native
Textbook We have decided to postpone the meeting until a later date.
Native We've put the meeting off till next week.
'Put off' is the everyday verb for postponing; 'postpone until a later date' is fine in writing but stiff in speech.
Pattern: put off + noun/gerund
In use
- I had to put off my dentist appointment because I was too busy.daily life
- If I have a lot of tasks, I sometimes put off the less important ones to focus on urgent work.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ Don't put off to do your homework.
✓ Don't put off doing your homework.
'Put off' + -ing, not a to-infinitive. With a pronoun: 'put it off'.
Common collocations
put off + task— the meeting, doing it, a decision, until tomorrow
Don't confuse it
Do not confuse with 'call off', which means to cancel.
Related
- put off (discourage or repel) — Another meaning of 'put off' is 'discourage or repel'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.