Meaning & use
offsets
Last updated
“offsets” is a form of “offset”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive
Cancels or balances out the effect of something by having an opposite effect of similar size.
Grammar: Takes an object: the discount offsets the shipping fee.
Patterns
- something offsets something
- offset something against something
The new tax credit offsets the higher rent.
Her salary offsets the cost of childcare.
Strong sales in spring offsets the winter slump.
nounplural
Payments or actions that make up for pollution or damage caused elsewhere, such as planting trees to balance carbon emissions.
Grammar: Plural of offset, often carbon offsets.
Patterns
- offsets for something
- carbon offsets
The airline sells carbon offsets to its passengers.
The company buys offsets to balance its emissions.
Some critics doubt that offsets really reduce pollution.
nounpluraltechnical
Amounts or factors that balance another amount in accounting or measurement.
Grammar: Used in finance and measurement for balancing items.
Patterns
- offsets against something
The accountant listed the offsets against the year's profit.
The printing press corrects small offsets in the alignment.
The tax offsets reduced his final bill.
Word forms
| base form | offset |
|---|---|
| past tense | offset |
| past participle | offset |
| -ing form | offsetting |
Common combinations
- offsets the cost
- Selling the old furniture offsets the cost of the new sofa.
- offsets the loss
- Growth in Asia offsets the loss in Europe.
- carbon offsets
- They bought carbon offsets for the whole trip.
- partly offsets
- The warm weather partly offsets the weak demand for coats.
- fully offsets
- The bonus fully offsets the extra commute expense.
Synonyms and how they differ
- balances
- Balances is gentler and more general, while offsets implies that one thing directly cancels part of another.
- counteracts
- Counteracts suggests actively working against an unwanted effect, whereas offsets can be about money or numbers.
- compensates for
- Compensates for focuses on making up for a loss, while offsets suggests an equal balancing amount.
- cancels out
- Cancels out suggests the effect disappears entirely, while offsets may only reduce it.
Opposites
Word family
- offset verb
- to balance or cancel out
- offset noun
- something that balances something else
- offsetting adjective
- working to cancel or balance
- set off phrasal verb
- to begin a journey, or to trigger something
Commonly confused: offsets or outsets?
offsets vs outsets
Outset means the start of something, as in at the outset, and has nothing to do with balancing.
Practice
A discount on the flight ___ the high price of the hotel, so the trip costs about what we expected.
Choose one answer.
Offsets means balances out, which fits a discount that cancels a high hotel cost. Raises would increase the cost and does not describe balancing.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “offsets”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.