Dictionary

off base en · ADP

Meanings

1. (US, not-comparable) Situated or happening outside the boundaries of a military base.
   • A Virginia lawmaker wants to improve off-base living conditions for enlisted troops with families. 2009 September 21, Bill Maze, “Bill would expand off-base housing options”, in Navy Times, archived from the original on 29 Jun 2013:
2. (not-comparable, of a baserunner) Positioned somewhere between the bases, and hence vulnerable to being caught out.
   • The hippo heard us, and, like a baseball player caught off base, tried to get back to the river. 1907, Richard Harding Davis, chapter 5, in The Congo and Coasts of Africa:
3. (comparable, figuratively, of a person) Mistaken; misguided; somewhat wrong in opinion or judgment.
   • Near-synonyms: off-track, off target
   • But he's off-base in describing the city as having "record crime" until he took office. 2007 November 27, Lori Robertson, “The Not-Quite Truth About NYC”, in Newsweek, archived from the original on 24 Jan 2025:
4. (comparable, figuratively, of an action, qualifier:belief; idea; etc; belief; idea; etc) Incorrect or inappropriate; not properly executed, envisioned, or understood.
   • Near-synonyms: off-track, off target, off-kilter
   • Verne had been dead for 64 years by the time of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 and was thus spared the embarrassment of knowing . . . that part of the rocket would be named “Columbia,” not his own ludicrously off-base suggestion, “Columbiad.” 2007 July 20, Bruno Maddox, “Blinded By Science Fictional Reality”, in Discover Magazine, archived from the original on 19 Sep 2011, retrieved 26 Sep 2010:
   • That partisan rhetoric may be heated, but it's not entirely off base. 2010 June 24, Kate Pickert, “How Health Reform Will Impact Existing Plans”, in TIME, archived from the original on 25 Sep 2010:

Forms

Antonyms

on base · on base

Synonyms

off-kilter · off target · off target · off-track · off-track