off-the-record
not for publication; not to be quoted: a candidate's off-the-record remarks to reporters.
confidential: off-the-record information.
Origin of off-the-record
1Words Nearby off-the-record
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use off-the-record in a sentence
A little speculation would be fine, if it were happening off-the-record between journalists and law-enforcement officials.
The Black Panther Bomb Plot in St. Louis That Wasn’t | Justin Glawe | December 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFDR would go so far as to suggest story frames and offer off-the-record tips from the highest source in the land.
I had an off-the-record dinner with a Ukrainian senior level official.
“off-the-record conversations happen all the time in the offline world,” the company notes.
Confide Is the Best Way to Keep Your Dastardly Deeds Hidden—For Now | Daniel Gross | January 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOnce upon a time, a speaker might have expected that an off-the-record, closed-door speech in a private home would be "private."
You mentioned in your off-the-record discussion that you had thought to yourself isn't it possible that Marina is a great actress.
Warren Commission (8 of 26): Hearings Vol. VIII (of 15) | The President's Commission on the Assassination of President KennedyA few minutes ago I asked you about your judgment of Marina Oswald's character and we had an off-the-record discussion.
Warren Commission (8 of 26): Hearings Vol. VIII (of 15) | The President's Commission on the Assassination of President KennedyI had that off-the-record gag worked on me when I was about Larv's age, fifty years ago.
Time Crime | H. Beam PiperIs there anything that occurred during our off-the-record discussions that is pertinent, which I have failed to bring out.
Warren Commission (9 of 26): Hearings Vol. IX (of 15) | The President's Commission on the Assassination of President KennedyIs there anything that occurred during those off-the-record sessions which you regard as pertinent which I have not brought out?
Warren Commission (9 of 26): Hearings Vol. IX (of 15) | The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
British Dictionary definitions for off the record
not intended for publication or disclosure; confidential
with such an intention; unofficially
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with off-the-record
Unofficially, in confidence, not for publication, as in What he was about to say, he told the reporters, was strictly off the record. Probably alluding to striking evidence from a court record (because it is irrelevant or improper), this term came into wide use in the mid-1900s, especially with reference to persons who did not wish to be quoted by journalists. For antonyms, see go on record; just for the record.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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