off the rails

Idioms  

1. In an abnormal or malfunctioning condition, as in Her political campaign has been off the rails for months. The phrase occurs commonly with go, as in Once the superintendent resigned, the effort to reform the school system went off the rails. This idiom alludes to the rails on which trains run; if a train goes off the rails, it stops or crashes. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

off the rails

Of course, Mackey said, there’s no guarantee that the A.I. won’t go off the rails.

From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026

That went off the rails early, however, with the team losing Slater to a season-ending injury in training camp and Alt soon after the season started.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

Peruvian Central Bank governor Julio Velarde is the rock that has kept this country from running off the rails through years of political chaos, economists say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026

In mitigation, David Mason KC said the "hardened criminal" had "completely gone off the rails and got himself in a terrible, terrible situation".

From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2026

To pretend that things hadn’t gone off the rails and that everything was just fine now that the threat was gone.

From "Time Bomb" by Joelle Charbonneau