offing
noun
Simple meaning
The near or foreseeable future.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
awfingSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɔfɪŋ
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The near or foreseeable future
“There was a wedding in the offing.”
figuratively
The foreseeable future. Chiefly in the phrase in the offing.
nautical
The part of the sea that can be seen from the shore and is beyond the anchoring area
“There was a ship in the offing.”
nautical
The distance that a ship at sea keeps away from land, often because of navigational dangers, fog and other hazards; a position at a distance from shore.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The near or foreseeable future
Used this way, offing is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“There was a wedding in the offing.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Near / foreseeablenoun
“There was a wedding in the offing.”
Seennoun
“There was a ship in the offing.”
More ways to use offing
- “There was a wedding in the offing.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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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.