off-season

[ awf-see-zuhn, of- ]

/ ˈɔfˈsi zən, ˈɒf- /

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noun

a time of year other than the regular or busiest one for a specific activity: Fares are lower in the off-season.

a time of year when business, manufacturing activity, etc., is less than normal or at an unusually low point.

adjective

of, relating to, or during the off-season: off-season hotel rates.

adverb

in or during the off-season: Traveling off-season is the easiest way to save vacation money.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of off-season

First recorded in 1840–50

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use off-season in a sentence

A lazy off-season afternoon in Palmer's house is like being trapped in a Rube Goldberg cartoon.
Will the Real Jim Palmer Please Stand Up|Tom Boswell|September 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Sadly, Lovato seems to have been Rowland's classmate in that Reality TV 101 course during the off-season.
New ‘X Factor’ Judges. Same Horrible, Boring, Ridiculous Reality Show|Kevin Fallon|September 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Ruth, too, was famous for performing vaudevillian shenanigans on the off-season barnstorming tours he frequently headlined.
The Myth of Jackie Mitchell, the Girl Who Struck Out Ruth and Gehrig|Adam Doster|May 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
By that point in his career, Montville says Ruth had even started to employ a modest off-season conditioning program.
The Myth of Jackie Mitchell, the Girl Who Struck Out Ruth and Gehrig|Adam Doster|May 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST

The season is different from the off-season, which is different from spring training.
Opening Day 2013: How to Write About Baseball in the Big Leagues|Noah Charney|March 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST
His ill-fame had preceded him, and in addition thereto, it was the off-season, and vacancies few.
Mixed Faces|Roy Norton
So small is Cromer, with its narrow streets near the sea, that in the off-season strangers are constantly running into each other.
The Place of Dragons|William Le Queux
Prices are certainly higher during the off-season, but growers would be well satisfied to get 1s.
Fruits of Queensland|Albert Benson
He yearned for it in the off-season interim as a drunkard for his bottle.
Local Color|Irvin S. Cobb
Don't you fellows get anything for it but a little off-season work?
Uncle Sam Detective|William Atherton Du Puy

British Dictionary definitions for off-season

off season

adjective (off-season when prenominal)

denoting or occurring during a period of little activity in a trade or business

noun

such a period

adverb

in an off-season period

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012