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.
First recorded in 1840–50
Anything with a season also has an off-season. Summer marks the off-season for skiing, and winter marks the off-season for most amusement parks (unless, of course, you live in Orlando, Florida). Off-season is often the time of the year when tourists don't visit, or when sports fans have to take a break from their favorite games. In seaside resorts, the off-season is the summer. During the off-season, visitors are sparse and sometimes businesses offer discounts to attract tourism. When you're talking about sports, the off-season is the period athletes spend training in preparation for their playing seasons.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He spends off-season weekends playing in a 7-on-7 team that travels to tournaments across the country.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 10, 2026
Bananas, mangoes, pineapples and off-season berries and vegetables are all exposed to higher input costs, Lempert added, and consumers could pay between 5% and 20% more by the fall, depending on produce origin.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 21, 2026
He cautions that the recent rainfall could be off-season rains, which may not last, and in any case would take some time before they made any difference.
From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026
What makes their success all the more striking is that Kjetil Knutsen's team are currently in their off-season, with the Norwegian league ending in late November and the new campaign not beginning until mid-March.
From Barron's • Feb. 24, 2026
The restaurant wasn’t crowded — it was the off-season in Port Angeles.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
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.
