offline

See also: off-line and off line

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From off- +‎ line.

Pronunciation

Adjective

offline (not comparable)

  1. Of a system, currently not connected (generally electrically) to a larger network. For example, a power plant which is not connected to the grid, or a computer which is not connected to the Internet or to any other communications service.
    Antonym: online
    I saved the web pages so I could read them later offline.
    He only had the option to play offline games because there was no Wi-Fi.
    • 2022 February 15, David Goldman, “Why your Wordle answers might now be different than your friends’”, in CNN‎[1], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 31 July 2025:
      That original list of 2,315 solutions was embedded in the game’s code. That means the game was playable offline and could be downloaded onto phones or computers. The solutions to the original Wordle game were predetermined through October 20, 2027. The New York Times (NYT) hasn’t said if it plans to make any more changes or additions to that initial list.
  2. (by extension) Happening in the physical world (the real world) as opposed to on the internet.
    Synonyms: IRL, meatspace
    Antonym: online
    offline meetings
    offline dating
    • 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 October 2026:
      Thousands of violent videos are still available on the internet, according to Alexander, who claims they lead to an escalation in offline tensions between rival gangs. "I believe some young people are losing their lives as result of this material on the internet," she said.

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

offline (not comparable)

  1. While offline; with an offline system.
    Antonym: online
    • 1982, “Hardware News”, in InfoWorld, volume 4, number 26, page 89:
      The 2000 also emulates Diablo, Qume and NEC letter-quality printers, and has a large enough buffer memory to operate off line from the host computer for an hour.
    • 2000, Syndey S. Chellen, The Essential Guide to the Internet for Health Professionals, Routledge, →ISBN, page 124:
      If you want to keep the phone bill down you can set up your Newsreader to operate offline. This means that your Newsreader will fetch new message headers, collect messages you wish to read, and send any responses you may have set up all in one go. You can then read news offline, while you are not running up the phone bill[…].
    • 2008, Vickie Taylor, The Complete Guide to Writing Web-Based Advertising Copy to Get the Sale, Atlantic Publishing,, →ISBN, page 230:
      Men like to play games online, and they also like to find out about the games that they play offline.
    • 2019 November 29, Taylor Lorenz, “Here’s What’s Happening in the American Teenage Bedroom”, in The New York Times‎[3], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 September 2025:
      “He’s not in a healthy state, in my opinion,” said his mother, Naomi Winch, who once became so frustrated with his phone use she threw his phone out a car window. His parents have tried to get him to engage with life offline.
  2. (business slang) Outside the current meeting, in a more private setting.
    • 2001, Rosabeth Moss Kantner, Evolve!, Harvard Business Press,, →ISBN, page 1:
      At meetings, people cut off discussion by saying “Let’s continue that conversation offline,” even though they are meeting face to face, not online; “offline” is a new synonym for “in private,” as though everything public were now on the Internet.
    • 2002, Verne Harnish, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, SelectBooks,, →ISBN, page 88:
      The person running the meeting also has the important job of saying “Take it offline.” Whenever two or more people get off on a tangent that doesn’t require everybody’s attention, instruct them to continue the conversation outside the boundaries of the meeting.
    • 2009, Jennifer B. Kahnweiler, The Introverted Leader, Berrett-Koehler,, →ISBN, page 95:
      Offer to discuss the topic offline or table the discussion until things cool down.

Verb

offline (third-person singular simple present offlines, present participle offlining, simple past and past participle offlined)

  1. (computing, transitive) To take (a system, etc.) offline; to demote from an active or online state.
    • 1986, Kai Hwang, Steven M. Jacobs, Earl E. Swartzlander, Proceedings of the 1986 International Conference on Parallel Processing, page 462:
      Offlining a memory processor can be accomplished by using the flexible interleaving capability described earlier to interleave segments across subsets of the memory processors, avoiding the faulty one(s).
    • 2008, Sam Alapati, Expert Oracle Database 11g Administration, page 908:
      Traditionally, you fixed the problem by offlining the disk and re-creating the disk's extents on a different disk using redundant extent copies and then dropping the failed disk.
  2. (video games, Rust) To raid another player's base while that player is not currently playing.

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English offline.

Pronunciation

Adjective

offline (indeclinable, predicative only)

  1. offline
    Antonym: online

Further reading

  • “offline” in Duden online
  • “offline”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎[4] (in German)

Polish

Alternative forms

Etymology

    Unadapted borrowing from English offline.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ɔfˈlajn/
    • Audio:(file)
    • Rhymes: -ajn
    • Syllabification: off‧line

    Adjective

    offline (not comparable, no derived adverb)

    1. (Internet) offline (available outside the Internet)
      Coordinate term: online

    Adverb

    offline (not comparable)

    1. (Internet) offline (with an offline system)
      Coordinate term: online

    Noun

    offline m inan

    1. (colloquial, Internet) offline (mode of operation outside the Internet)
      Coordinate term: online

    Declension

    Declension of offline
    singular
    nominative offline
    genitive offline'u
    dative offline'owi
    accusative offline
    instrumental offline'em
    locative offlinie
    vocative offlinie

    Derived terms

    adjective
    • offlinowy
    adverb
    • offlinowo

    Further reading

    • “offline”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎[5] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
    • “offline”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[6] (in Polish)

    Portuguese

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

      Unadapted borrowing from English offline.

      Pronunciation

      • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˌɔ.fiˈlaj.ni/ [ˌɔ.fiˈlaɪ̯.ni], /ˌɔfˈlaj.ni/ [ˌɔfˈlaɪ̯.ni]

      • Rhymes: -ajni, -ajnɨ

      Adjective

      offline (invariable)

      1. offline (not connected to the Internet)
        Synonyms: desconectado, fora de linha
        Antonym: online

      Adverb

      offline

      1. offline
        Antonym: online

      Further reading

      Spanish

      Etymology

        Unadapted borrowing from English offline.

        Pronunciation

        • IPA(key): /ˌof ˈlain/ [ˌof ˈlãĩn]
        • Rhymes: -ain

        Adjective

        offline (invariable)

        1. offline
          Synonyms: desconectado, sin conexión
          Antonyms: en línea, online

        Usage notes

        According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

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