Meaning & use

offset

verb·Academic

To counteract or balance one effect with another, often an opposing one.

See it in a sentence

The company plants trees to offset the carbon emissions from its factories.

A pay raise helped offset the rising cost of rent in the city.

A note on using this word

Offset also works as a noun, as in a carbon offset, referring to the compensating action itself.

Words with a similar meaning

counterbalancecompensate for

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Make it your own

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