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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]

Synonyms

off-base

American

[awf-bays, of-] / ˈɔfˈbeɪs, ˈɒf- /

adjective

located outside the perimeters of a military base.

off-base housing for officers.

off base Idioms

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]

Etymology

Origin of off-base

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

off-base off base

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi has previously said that officials were reviewing the off-base code of conduct for US troops in Japan following the alleged killing.

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

Runge, Carlisle P. and the National Guard, 518-19; and off-base discrimination, 502, 506n, 532, 534-35; and racial reform directives, 511-13, 515.

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

In fact, all of these expectations were far off base.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

What we are measuring, why we are measuring it, and where we might be off base.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 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

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

From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2024

But even thinking that was off base, because there was no comparison.

From "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023