turning off

verb

present participle of turn off
1
as in disgusting
to cause to feel disgust that memorably bad meal turned me off about restaurant food for a while

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in deviating
to change one's course or direction turn off at the third exit and follow the ramp to your left

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3
as in removing
to let go from office, service, or employment eventually, the supervisor turned off the insubordinate employee

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4
as in shutting off
to cause to stop functioning please turn off the fan when you're done

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of turning off Sink advises turning off water fountains and waterfalls during the day when temperatures are at their peak. — Anne Readel, Better Homes & Gardens, 6 July 2026 In a tropical climate, turning off the AC backfires, because the energy needed to drag the room temperature back down on return is greater than the energy saved. — Christopher Elliott, Forbes.com, 13 June 2026 Grid failure doesn’t just mean the lights turning off, Straubel said. — Jordan Blum, Fortune, 9 June 2026 However, if the temperature is set too low, then the air conditioner may operate for long periods of time, rarely turning off. — Timothy Dale, The Spruce, 8 June 2026 The remark came in response to my parents turning off my bedroom light. — Joseph O’Neill, New Yorker, 1 June 2026 Perhaps turning off the replies would have been the move, although that also would have drawn attention. — Armando Salguero Outkick, FOXNews.com, 11 May 2026 Texas teacher’s arrest exposes holes in do-not-hire checks An Elgin middle school teacher accused of molesting an eighth grader had previously resigned from the Texas Juvenile Justice Department after giving a shirtless youth a skin-to-skin back rub and turning off his body camera. — Jj Velasquez, San Antonio Express-News, 10 May 2026 By turning off the gene, called ANGPTL3, blood lipid levels should fall. — David Cox, NBC news, 6 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for turning off
  1. disgusting
  2. deviating
  3. removing
  4. shutting off
  5. appalling
  6. turning
  7. sacking
  8. killing
Verb
  • The consequences of disgusting one’s wife, whether or not one agrees with her premise, could be enormous.
    — Judith Martin, Mercury News, 6 Apr. 2026
  • Discharge Papers • Aw, The Pitt is back and happy to be disgusting again!
    — Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2026
Definition of disgusting
Verb
  • Practicing deviating from our defaults, no matter how mundane, prepares us to deviate again, even in higher stakes contexts.
    — Nell Derick Debevoise Dewey, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026
  • The highly disguised initial view of the model undergoing final testing showed the luxury marque deviating away from its traditional upright boxy off-road SUVs into a new territory.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 27 July 2026
Definition of deviating
Verb
  • Leaders add value by asking better questions, widening perspectives, connecting people, allocating resources and removing the obstacles that slow great work.
    — Brent McHugh, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
  • The state added women to the workforce without removing men from their role as sole providers.
    — Wael Mahdi, semafor.com, 21 July 2026
Definition of removing
Verb
  • Shut Off the Main Water Supply If Needed In some situations, shutting off the toilet’s water supply isn’t enough.
    — Olivia McIntosh, Martha Stewart, 24 July 2026
  • The second test will be more ambitious, with the rocket launching to 10km, shutting off its engine, and then restarting to land on deployable legs.
    — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 17 July 2026
Definition of shutting off
Verb
  • The young Forster recoiled from the school’s culture of authoritarianism and militaristic chauvinism, which may have found expression in the students’ often appalling attitudes toward their own mothers.
    — Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 7 May 2026
  • Of all the recent poster boys for appalling misbehavior by the State Police, Michael Proctor would of course rank number one.
    — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 4 Jan. 2026
Definition of appalling
Verb
  • That starts early, with Lily accusing Sam of turning her and Zac into an all-Asian team to compete against the whites.
    — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 28 July 2026
  • While these signings rarely generate major headlines immediately, the Dodgers have developed a reputation for turning under-the-radar acquisitions into legitimate prospects.
    — Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026
Definition of turning
Verb
  • The museum replaced him with Sasha Suda, hiring her away from the National Gallery of Canada before sacking her following a disastrous rebrand and replacing her with Weiss, a former president of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 29 July 2026
  • But so far, the government has decided not to intervene by sacking him and has backpedalled, allowing Russia to participate.
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 23 July 2026
Definition of sacking
Verb
  • In March, Nebraska’s Morrill Fire tore through 642,000 acres to become the largest in state history, killing one person and razing vast stretches of cattle country.
    — Martin Goillandeau, CNN Money, 2 Aug. 2026
  • In 2016, wildlife officials closed 183 miles (295 kilometers) of the Yellowstone River to fishing, rafting and other activities to prevent a parasite suspected of killing tens of thousands of fish from spreading further in the low and warm water.
    — Matthew Brown, Fortune, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of killing

Browse Nearby Words

turning loose
turning off
turning (on)
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Cite this Entry

“Turning off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/turning%20off. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

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