back off

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.

Deborah famously tried to muzzle Ava a few times, only to back off when she realized that by hurting her protégé, she was wounding herself.

From Salon • May 29, 2026

“Sometimes you just need to show up and talk to the community, to get them to back off, leave it alone.”

From Slate • May 27, 2026

And so that was only possible because there’s a clinical trial, which is another way of saying to the FDA, “Hey, back off a little bit.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

To back off from that charge, district officials proposed raising average class sizes in kindergarten through fourth grade from 24-to-1 to 28-to-1, according to the district.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026

Miss Ellis shook her long blonde hair back off her shoulders.

From "The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson