put sb off
— phrasal verb with put uk/pʊt/us/pʊt/verb present participle putting, past tense and past participle put
to tell someone that you cannot see them or do something for them, or to stop someone from doing something, until a later time:
I really don't want to go out with Helen and Greg tonight - can't we put them off ?
He keeps asking me out, and I keep putting him off.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Preventing and impeding
- avert
- avoid
- avoidable
- bar
- be a drag on sb/sth idiom
- block sth out
- blot
- bottleneck
- derail
- fireproof
- hold out on sb
- hold sb/sth back
- hold/keep sb/sth at bay idiom
- holding pattern
- impede
- prevention
- prevention is better than cure idiom
- preventive
- prohibit
- pull
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