come off
succeed or work as planned
What does "come off" mean?
Examples
- The rescue plan came off perfectly, and everyone made it out safely.
- His attempt at humour didn't really come off — the audience just stared at him.
- We weren't sure the bluff would come off, but somehow it did.
How to use it
The most common pattern: the plan, attempt, or performance acts as the subject, and the verb has no object.
The strategy came off exactly as the team had hoped.
Adverbs are frequently used to qualify how well or poorly the attempt succeeded.
Her speech came off well, despite the last-minute changes.
Negative constructions are especially natural with this verb, often implying something fell just short of its goal.
The joke didn't quite come off — the timing was slightly off.
These prepositional phrases are common collocations that anchor the attempt to an original intention.
The surprise party didn't come off as planned, but everyone still had a great time.
Conditionals are natural when expressing uncertainty about whether an attempt will succeed.
Nobody was sure the gamble would come off, but it did in the end.
Common Collocations
Common Mistakes
In this sense, the plan or attempt is the subject — not the person doing it. A common error is putting the person as subject and the plan as object, by analogy with 'pull off'.
'Pull off' is transitive and needs an object ('she pulled it off'), whereas 'come off' is intransitive — the plan or attempt is always the grammatical subject, not the object.
This sense of 'come off' sounds unnatural in continuous tenses. Stick to simple tenses or the present perfect when describing whether an attempt succeeded.
Usage
This phrasal verb is neutral in register and works in both spoken and written English. It is slightly more common in British English and is often used in negative or hedged contexts to say something didn't succeed as well as expected.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a person be the subject of 'come off' in this sense?
Not in this sense, no. It's the plan, attempt, joke, or stunt that comes off — not the person behind it. You'd say 'the stunt came off' rather than 'he came off the stunt'. If you want to talk about the person, you'd use a transitive verb like 'pull off' instead.
Does 'come off' always mean something succeeded?
Not always — it's actually very common in negative or hedged contexts. Native speakers often use it to describe something that fell short: 'the joke didn't quite come off' or 'the plan came off better than expected' are both perfectly natural. The verb simply describes whether the intended result was achieved, in either direction.
Can 'come off' describe a person's performance, or only abstract plans?
It can describe performances, but the performance itself is still the subject, not the person. You could say 'her speech came off brilliantly' or 'the presentation came off better than we expected'. The subject is the event or attempt, not the individual.
Does 'come off' have other meanings I should know about?
Yes — the same form has a few other distinct meanings. It can describe something physically detaching ('the handle came off'), or stopping a medication ('he came off the tablets'). There's also the fixed exclamation 'come off it', which expresses disbelief. Context and the subject noun will usually make the meaning clear.
Is 'come off' more British than American?
It's used in both, but it is slightly more common in British English — you'll see it frequently in British journalism and fiction. American speakers tend to favour 'work out' or 'pull off' in similar contexts, but 'come off' is understood and used on both sides of the Atlantic.
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