Meaning & use
off the wagon
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Meanings
phrasefixed phraseinformal
Drinking alcohol again after a period of not drinking any.
Grammar: Used after 'be' or 'fall': he is off the wagon; she fell off the wagon.
Patterns
- be off the wagon
- fall off the wagon
- go off the wagon
He had been sober for two years, but he fell off the wagon last month.
Nobody wants to talk about the fact that she is off the wagon again.
After his divorce, he went off the wagon and started drinking every night.
phrasefixed phraseinformalfigurative
Having started doing something again after a period of stopping, especially something you were trying to give up.
Grammar: Often used with 'fall' or 'go': I fell off the wagon and ate a whole cake.
Patterns
- fall off the wagon
- go off the wagon
I was off sugar for a month, but I fell off the wagon at my birthday party.
He had stopped gambling, then went off the wagon during the holidays.
She is off the wagon again with her spending.
Common combinations
- fall off the wagon
- He fell off the wagon after six months of not drinking.
- go off the wagon
- She went off the wagon when her old friends visited.
- be off the wagon
- He is off the wagon and needs help.
- back off the wagon
- After one drink, he was back off the wagon.
Synonyms and how they differ
- relapse
- Relapse is a more formal, medical word for starting to drink or use drugs again; off the wagon is informal and conversational.
Opposites
Commonly confused: off the wagon or on the wagon?
off the wagon vs on the wagon
On the wagon means you are not drinking alcohol at the moment; off the wagon means you have started drinking again.
Practice
After ten months without a drink, Tom ______ off the wagon at his brother's wedding.
Choose one answer.
The fixed expression is 'fall off the wagon', so 'fell' is correct. 'Felt' is a different verb and does not fit the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “off the wagon”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.