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• off-base
  off-base

  adjective

  located outside the perimeters of a military base.
• off base
  off base

  Wrong, relying on a mistaken premise, as in His description of the accounting system was totally off base. This metaphoric term originated in baseball, where a runner who steps off a base can be put out. [c. 1940]

off-base

American  

[awf-bays, of-] / ˈɔfˈbeɪs, ˈɒf- /

adjective

1. located outside the perimeters of a military base.

   off-base housing for officers.

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off base Idioms  

1. Wrong, relying on a mistaken premise, as in His description of the accounting system was totally off base. This metaphoric term originated in baseball, where a runner who steps off a base can be put out. [c. 1940]

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Etymology

Origin of off-base

First recorded in 1935–40

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

off-base off base

The curfew imposed last month required all troops to be back on base or at "an off-base domicile" from midnight to 5:00 am.

From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026

“What makes today’s ruling so off-base is the Court’s lack of situational awareness regarding this equitable judgment,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in her dissent.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

McDonald are not off-base when they say that Mahmoud establishes their right to send their kids to school unvaccinated.

From Slate ● Dec. 9, 2025

Ms. Lee is equally off-base, delivering her lines with a mix of sangfroid and sarcasm as if C-suite officers are used to getting chased around by super-killers from another domain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025

Defense officials, prodding in the matter of integrated schooling for dependent children, found the mere existence of successfully integrated on-base schooling a useful tool in achieving similar schooling off-base.

From Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965 by Morris J. MacGregor

A lot would have to be wrong for the model’s forecasts to be way off base.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

However, he’s completely off base to advocate for the CFP national championship game to be hosted there.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 3, 2026

Perhaps Ms. Welch’s survey is accurate but her conclusions off base.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2025

Public perception of a double-standard for the wealthy and powerful may not be so off base.

From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2024

I realized, of course, that this might be because my theory about the old D&D module was completely lame and totally off base.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

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Related Words

• erroneous
• inaccurate
• mistaken
• sadly mistaken
• wrong

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