not engaged in the performance of one's usual work.
an off-duty police officer.
of, relating to, or during a period when a person is not at work.
First recorded in 1850–55
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Prosecutors said the 40 -year-old did this while off duty and on sick days to earn cash on the side of his day job.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
Platner pleaded ignorance—claiming that he had gotten inked with insignia while drunk and off duty in Croatia, and didn’t understand the horrific context until much later.
From Slate • Apr. 13, 2026
But, in a twist of fate, he was off duty on July 10.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 22, 2025
The exhibition opening at the King's Gallery at Buckingham Palace next Spring will chronicle Queen Elizabeth's life through the outfits she wore for public events and when off duty.
From BBC • Jul. 21, 2025
They were well stocked with food and drink; they had fjres to warm them when off duty, a place to dry their clothes, snug comers to lie down and sleep.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
