1
: an elimination of an item from the books of account
2
a
: a reduction in book value of an item (as by way of depreciation)
b
: a tax deduction of an amount of depreciation, expense, or loss
3
chiefly British
: something (such as a damaged vehicle) or someone regarded or conceded as a loss
wrote off; written off; writing off; writes off
1
: to eliminate (an asset) from the books : enter as a loss or expense
write off a bad loan
2
: to regard or concede to be lost
most were content to write off 1979 and look optimistically ahead—
Money
MoneySynonyms
Examples of write-off in a Sentence
Verb
most critics have already written off that director as a hack incapable of turning out anything but schlock
that one blunder will write off to nothing all the goodwill we've been building up
Recent Examples on the WebMae Anderson, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
The oil and gas industry enjoys nearly a dozen tax breaks, including incentives for domestic production and write-offs tied to foreign production.
—Lisa Friedman, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2024
Holiday Haunt and Acme v. Coyote, the company saved millions of dollars that would have went to completing and the marketing the movies, on top of collecting hefty tax write-offs.
—Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2024
As a result, vehicles suffering a collision may be more prone to a total write-off as the repair could cost more than its residual value.
—José Rodríguez Jr. / Jalopnik, Quartz, 13 Mar. 2024
The Hollywood Reporter first broke the news Nov. 10 that Warner Bros. intended to shelve Coyote vs. Acme for a tax write-off.
—James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Feb. 2024
Tax write-offs are incentives that the United States government gives to business owners for running a business, since your business is helping grow the economy.
—Barbara Schreihans, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024
Like previous rounds, this latest write-off is a $1.2 billion campaign expenditure, one that doesn’t have to come out of the Biden campaign’s $56 million in cash reserves, or be raised with donation drives.
—Thomas Knapp, Orange County Register, 22 Feb. 2024
Nimona — which has LGBTQ themes that Disney executives wanted to downplay — seemed destined to become a tax write-off before Ellison scooped it up.
—Rebecca Keegan, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Feb. 2024
Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 15 Apr. 2024
As tax day approaches, TikTok creators are dolling out filing tips, including suggestions about what kinds of purchases to write off.
—Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 12 Apr. 2024
Still others tell hundreds of thousands of followers to buy 6,000-pound vehicles, then write off the sticker price, maintenance and fuel.
—Julie Zauzmer Weil, Washington Post, 8 Apr. 2024
Those freedoms were, needless to say, unevenly distributed, which is one of the reasons that some critics have written off the American Revolution.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
By the turn of the century, asexual reproduction had been documented in nearly every branch of vertebrates, with the exception of mammals (which most biologists had written off, for reasons explained below) and cartilaginous fish.
—Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 22 Mar. 2024
For the full year 2023, net loss was ($70.6) million, which includes the one-time write off for impairment of goodwill of $60.9million, compared to a net loss of ($26.9) million, which includes the one-time write off for restructuring costs of $4.1 million, in the prior year.
—Charlotte Observer, 1 Apr. 2024
Major pro-Trump voices are writing off those votes already.
—Maggie Haberman, New York Times, 26 Mar. 2024
When consumers fail to repay their loans for a long time, banks write off the bad debt as a loss.
—Matt Egan, CNN, 7 Mar. 2024
Noun
One reason Gerstein recommends an extension this year: a bonus depreciation write-off used by many small businesses is set to decrease for 2023.
—Mae Anderson, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
The oil and gas industry enjoys nearly a dozen tax breaks, including incentives for domestic production and write-offs tied to foreign production.
—Lisa Friedman, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2024
Holiday Haunt and Acme v. Coyote, the company saved millions of dollars that would have went to completing and the marketing the movies, on top of collecting hefty tax write-offs.
—Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2024
As a result, vehicles suffering a collision may be more prone to a total write-off as the repair could cost more than its residual value.
—José Rodríguez Jr. / Jalopnik, Quartz, 13 Mar. 2024
The Hollywood Reporter first broke the news Nov. 10 that Warner Bros. intended to shelve Coyote vs. Acme for a tax write-off.
—James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Feb. 2024
Tax write-offs are incentives that the United States government gives to business owners for running a business, since your business is helping grow the economy.
—Barbara Schreihans, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024
Like previous rounds, this latest write-off is a $1.2 billion campaign expenditure, one that doesn’t have to come out of the Biden campaign’s $56 million in cash reserves, or be raised with donation drives.
—Thomas Knapp, Orange County Register, 22 Feb. 2024
Nimona — which has LGBTQ themes that Disney executives wanted to downplay — seemed destined to become a tax write-off before Ellison scooped it up.
—Rebecca Keegan, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Feb. 2024
Verb
The agency also looks for outliers, like a filer who writes off travel costs way above what the typical taxpayer would deduct.
—Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 15 Apr. 2024
As tax day approaches, TikTok creators are dolling out filing tips, including suggestions about what kinds of purchases to write off.
—Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 12 Apr. 2024
Still others tell hundreds of thousands of followers to buy 6,000-pound vehicles, then write off the sticker price, maintenance and fuel.
—Julie Zauzmer Weil, Washington Post, 8 Apr. 2024
Those freedoms were, needless to say, unevenly distributed, which is one of the reasons that some critics have written off the American Revolution.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
By the turn of the century, asexual reproduction had been documented in nearly every branch of vertebrates, with the exception of mammals (which most biologists had written off, for reasons explained below) and cartilaginous fish.
—Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 22 Mar. 2024
For the full year 2023, net loss was ($70.6) million, which includes the one-time write off for impairment of goodwill of $60.9million, compared to a net loss of ($26.9) million, which includes the one-time write off for restructuring costs of $4.1 million, in the prior year.
—Charlotte Observer, 1 Apr. 2024
Major pro-Trump voices are writing off those votes already.
—Maggie Haberman, New York Times, 26 Mar. 2024
When consumers fail to repay their loans for a long time, banks write off the bad debt as a loss.
—Matt Egan, CNN, 7 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'write-off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Write-off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/write-off. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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