rip off
Britishverb
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(tr) to tear violently or roughly (from)
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slang (adverb) to steal from or cheat (someone)
noun
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slang an article or articles stolen
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slang a grossly overpriced article
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slang the act of stealing or cheating
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Steal, as in They fired him when they caught him ripping off some of the merchandise .
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Cheat, defraud, as in These advertising claims have ripped off a great many consumers .
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Copy, plagiarize, as in He was sued for ripping off someone else's thesis . All three usages are slang from the second half of the 1900s.
Explanation
A rip-off is when someone deliberately overcharges for something they're selling, or steals someone else's idea. A movie that uses the exact same plot as an earlier movie might be considered a rip-off. Rip-off is an informal term for a theft or fraud of some kind. If you claim you're selling rare, antique postcards, but they're actually cheap copies you made at home, that's a rip-off. And if you copy an artist's design, print it on a t-shirt, and sell it, that's also a rip-off. First used in the 1960s, rip-off comes from African American slang, from the vernacular rip, "to steal."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And don’t discount that Chinese chip makers will figure out how to rip off Nvidia’s technology.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 10, 2025
“Financial rip-offs don’t just rip off Democrats or Republicans,” Kelleher told me.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2025
Supermodel Heidi Klum and comedian Nikki Glaser rip off Boone’s suit — he’s wearing a skin-tight, sequined unitard underneath — and sings “Beautiful Things.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 2, 2025
Sir Paul McCartney has told the BBC proposed changes to copyright law could allow "rip off" technology that might make it impossible for musicians and artists to make a living.
From BBC • Jan. 25, 2025
Although I'm shaking in the biting wind, I rip off my jacket, remove my shirt, and zip back into the jacket as swiftly as possible.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
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.
