What Does 'Put Off' Mean at Work?

Put off means to delay or postpone something — to move it to a later time, often without committing to exactly when.

"We put off the migration until after the holiday freeze."

"I keep putting off that difficult conversation with my manager."

Why "put off" carries a slightly different tone than "postpone" or "reschedule"

Reschedule is neutral and specific — it implies a new, concrete time has been set.

"We rescheduled the meeting to Thursday at 2pm." (a new, specific time exists)

Postpone is formal and can apply with or without a new date.

"The launch has been postponed indefinitely." (formal, no new date needed)

Put off is more conversational, and it often carries a subtle implication of avoidance or procrastination, especially when the subject is a person rather than an event.

"I put off writing the performance review until the last possible day." (implies reluctance, not just scheduling)

"The team put off the decision because nobody wanted to own it." (implies avoidance, not a neutral delay)

This is the detail that makes put off worth learning specifically: it's not purely about logistics. It often signals why something was delayed, not just that it was.

The grammar: "put off" takes a gerund, not an infinitive

When put off is followed by another verb, that verb must be in the -ing form (a gerund), never the infinitive (to + verb).

Correct:

"I keep putting off responding to that email."

Incorrect:

"I keep putting off to respond to that email."

This is a common trap because many verbs in English take an infinitive after them ("I want to respond," "I decided to respond"), but put off is one of a group of verbs — including avoid, postpone, and consider — that require the gerund instead.

Common mistakes

Mistake 1: Using the infinitive instead of the gerund.

Wrong:

"We put off to launch the feature."

Correct:

"We put off launching the feature."

Mistake 2: Using "put off" for something that was cancelled, not delayed.

Put off implies the thing will still happen eventually, just later. If it's actually cancelled, say so directly — using put off when you mean cancelled creates false expectations.

"The project was put off, not cancelled — we're revisiting it next quarter." (correct, if true)

Mistake 3: Overusing "put off" for yourself in a way that signals unreliability.

In professional writing, repeatedly saying "I put this off" can read as an admission of poor time management. When explaining a delay to a manager or client, it's often better to state the reason plainly rather than lead with put off:

"I put off the report because I was buried in other work." (casual, slightly apologetic)

"I prioritized the client escalation over the report this week." (more professional framing of the same delay)

Practice scenarios

Practice using put off in situations like:

• explaining, honestly, that you delayed a task you were avoiding
• telling a team that a decision or launch has been pushed to a later, unspecified date
• gently calling out a pattern of repeated delays on a project
• deciding, out loud, to stop postponing something difficult

Useful practice phrases:

• "I keep putting off..."
• "We've decided to put off [the launch/decision] until..."
• "I can't put this off any longer."
• "Let's not put off talking about this — it'll only get harder."

Lyra Practice helps advanced non-native English professionals learn the nuance of high-value workplace expressions and practice using them in realistic scenarios, so their English sounds natural, precise, and senior at work. Try Lyra Practice.