Phrasal verb
fob off
Definition
phrasal verb. to give someone a poor excuse or a low-quality item to avoid dealing with them or their request.
phrasal verb. to deceitfully or dismissively persuade someone to accept an excuse, an inferior product, or an unsatisfactory explanation in order to evade a responsibility.
Examples
“Don't let them fob you off with a cheap replacement.”
“When I asked for a refund, the manager tried to fob me off by saying the system was down.”
“The government attempted to fob off the public with vague promises of reform rather than addressing the systemic corruption within the department.”
Examples
simple
“Don't let them fob you off with a cheap replacement.”
contextual
“When I asked for a refund, the manager tried to fob me off by saying the system was down.”
complex
“The government attempted to fob off the public with vague promises of reform rather than addressing the systemic corruption within the department.”
Usage
usually takes a person as the direct object, followed by 'with' and the unsatisfactory thing.
Teaching tip
this phrasal verb carries a strong sense of dishonesty or laziness; it is more informal and critical than 'deflect' or 'evade'.
Pitfall
He fobbed off me with an excuse.
He fobbed me off with an excuse.
when the object is a pronoun like 'me', it must come between the verb and the particle 'off'.
Phrasal verb
Particles
off
Separability
optional
Pattern
fob + object + off + with + thing
Synonyms
Antonyms
Grammar
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/fob-off