VocabauraVOCABAURA

offbeat

noun · adjective

Simple meaning

An unaccented beat.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

awfbeet

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɔfˈbit

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. slang

    An unaccented beat (especially the last beat of a measure)

  2. music

    The beats not normally accented in a measure.

  3. slang

    An unconventional person, someone who does not follow the beat, who chooses not to conform.

adjective

  1. Unusual; unconventional; not ordinary.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: An unaccented beat (especially the last beat of a measure)

Used this way, offbeat is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in everyday conversation and social media or informal writing contexts.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Very casual
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Playful
Usage feel
Playful and informal

Where it naturally appears

  • Everyday conversation
  • Social media/informal writing

Usage note

Slang: natural in speech and messages between friends, but out of place in school, work or published writing.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “offbeat”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

offbeat senseoffbeat humorsome offbeatdouble offbeatoffbeat comedyoffbeat filmoffbeat character

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: unusual

unconventionalkinkyInformal

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “offbeat” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.