First recorded in 1935–40
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
Curious to see the effect of all that Americanness, I drove north from Naha to Makiminato, a place once dominated by American bases, off-base housing and base-adjacent businesses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2025
Some were wildly off-base; others lined up perfectly with what I’d seen and heard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2025
Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, died at his off-base residence, the U.S.
From Seattle Times ● May 7, 2024
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 MacGregor, Morris J.
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
Public perception of a double-standard for the wealthy and powerful may not be so off base.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2024
Blithe predictions that Santos will follow in the footsteps of Sean Spicer and Rudy Giuliani and appear on “Dancing with the Stars” and “The Masked Singer” are not off base.
From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2023
Suddenly he didn’t seem so far off base.
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.
