in the offing

in the offing

English

Pronunciation

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Prepositional phrase

in the offing

1. (literally, of a ship, landmass, etc.) Within the area of the sea known as the offing; at a considerable distance from land, but visible from shore, often in reference to an approaching ship.

   They could see that the ship was waiting in the offing.

   There were several small islands in the offing.

2. (idiomatic) Soon to come; likely to happen; in the foreseeable future; projected to occur; on the horizon; in the wind.
   • 1850, Beckett, Sylvester Breakmore, The Portland Reference Book and City Directory‎:

     We have known wives to forget that they had husbands…, especially when they supposed that a tax bill or a notification to do military duty might be in the offing!

   • 2014 August 8, Christiansen, Rupert, “The truth about falsettos”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)‎, [print version: 12 August 2014, p. R8]:

     He [countertenor Anthony Roth Constanzo] also enjoys being the catalyst whereby opera fertilises other art forms: recently, he's collaborated with Japanese kabuki actors, and a project with dancers from New York City Ballet is in the offing.

3. (idiomatic) At a distance, but visible.
   • 1919, Wodehouse, P[elham] G[renville], My Man Jeeves:

     The moment I saw the man standing there, registering respectful attention, a weight seemed to roll off my mind. I felt like a lost child who spots his father in the offing. There was something about him that gave me confidence.

Synonyms

• (soon to come): imminent, instant, proximate; see also Thesaurus:impending

Translations

in the foreseeable future; on the horizon

Chinese: Mandarin: 在不遠的將來／在不远的将来 (zài bù yuǎn de jiānglái) Czech: na obzoru Dutch: in het verschiet Finnish: tulossa, tiedossa French: en perspective (fr), à l'horizon German: in Aussicht Japanese: 近い未来に (ちかいみらいに, chikai mirai ni) Russian: в ближа́йшем бу́дущем (v bližájšem búduščem), не за гора́ми (ru) (ne za gorámi)

See also

• In the Offing, poem by Florence Earle Coates