offing 1 of 2

noun

ˈȯ-fiŋ How to pronounce offing (audio)
Definition of offingnext
as in future
time that is to come major changes are in the offing for the company

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

offing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of off, slang
as in murdering
to put to death deliberately the hit man was rumored to have offed at least three people in the last year alone

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of offing
Noun
More changes in personnel as well as format are in the offing, sources close to events tell me. — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 28 May 2026 For that to happen, however, lots of construction was in the offing. — Thad Moore, AJC.com, 27 May 2026
Verb
Too bad then that the man holding a debt over his head (Jonathan Coyne) is actually planning on offing him in his last match. — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 19 May 2026 One of them, Elle (Sophie Thatche), is haunted by a nefarious murderer, the Leather Man, who is offing women around the city. — Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 19 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for offing
Recent Examples of Synonyms for offing
  1. future
  2. murdering
  3. tomorrow
  4. assassinating
  5. futurity
  6. slaying
  7. executing
  8. killing
Noun
  • The combination of elevated inflation and a resilient labor market, meanwhile, has raised the chances of an interest rate hike, futures markets show.
    — Max Zahn, ABC News, 30 July 2026
  • Neither represents a sustainable future for the fashion industry.
    — P.J. Smith, Footwear News, 30 July 2026
Definition of future
Verb
  • Their son pleaded guilty in October 2022 to murdering four students and injuring several others in the November 2021 shooting at Oxford High School and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
    — Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 30 July 2026
  • On that Sabbath morning, a gunman shot his way into the synagogue, shouting antisemitic invective and murdering 11 worshipers from the three congregations sharing the building — Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life.
    — Peter Smith, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026
Definition of murdering
Noun
  • If artificial intelligence disappeared tomorrow, would my current performance measures still identify my highest-performing employees?
    — Michael Edmondson, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
  • The deadline for Miller to drop off the ballot is tomorrow; CNN will interview him later today.
    — Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of tomorrow
Verb
  • Utah prosecutors are turning up the heat on Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk, arguing that the evidence against him easily meets the standard required to send the case to trial.
    — Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 29 July 2026
  • Ferrell instead starred as the villainous mogul Jacobim Mugatu, who attempts to brainwash Derek into assassinating the prime minister of Malaysia.
    — Virginia Chamlee, PEOPLE, 27 July 2026
Definition of assassinating
Noun
  • Established in 2023, the biennial prize is given in recognition of next-gen multidisciplinary artists working at the intersection of art, media, and technology to explore notions of futurity and transformation.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 4 Nov. 2025
  • This reading list offers resources for engaging with Indigenous thought, resistance, and futurity.
    — JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 11 Oct. 2025
Definition of futurity
Verb
  • Symbolism Historically, dragon-slaying stories portrayed the treasure hoard as the ultimate test of a hero’s character.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 July 2026
  • Foster, 58, was ordered held without bail on Thursday for slaying 39-year-old Julia Anderson during a property dispute, cops said.
    — Emma Seiwell, New York Daily News, 18 July 2026
Definition of slaying
Verb
  • Smaller teams of high-agency engineers and builders are managing fleets of agents rather than executing every task by hand.
    — Michael Wee, Forbes.com, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Hugging Face, for its part, published a forensic timeline, describing how the autonomous AI system spent four and a half days executing 17,600 distinct hacking actions across multiple organizations — without direct involvement by any humans.
    — Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of executing
Verb
  • In March, Nebraska’s Morrill Fire tore through 642,000 acres to become the largest in state history, killing one person and razing vast stretches of cattle country.
    — Martin Goillandeau, CNN Money, 2 Aug. 2026
  • In 2016, wildlife officials closed 183 miles (295 kilometers) of the Yellowstone River to fishing, rafting and other activities to prevent a parasite suspected of killing tens of thousands of fish from spreading further in the low and warm water.
    — Matthew Brown, Fortune, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of killing

Browse Nearby Words

officiousness
offing
offings
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Offing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/offing. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

How long is a jiffy?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
asap street sign
Figure Out These Acronyms ASAP You don't have to be a NASA engineer to get these...
See All