off the record

adverb

not for quotation

-

he spoke to the reporter off the record

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1 his comments were off the record: UNOFFICIAL, confidential, in (strict) confidence, not to be made public.

2 they admitted, off the record, that they had made a mistake: UNOFFICIALLY, privately, in (strict) confidence, confidentially, between ourselves.

→ record

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adverb (or adjective)

: not for quotation (as by the press) or publication as something official or authoritative

spoke off the record

my remarks are off the record

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off the record

Not to be made public (offˈ-the-record adjective)

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Main Entry: ↑record

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off the record phrase

used for saying that a remark is not official or not intended to be made public

Off the record, many Conservatives admit they cannot win the election.

Thesaurus: words used to describe comments and remarks_hyponym

Main entry: record

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not made as an official or attributable statement

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off the record

— used to describe a statement that is not official and should not be repeated or made public by being used in a newspaper, magazine, etc.

Government officials did speak to reporters, but only off the record. [=the reporters were not allowed to publish the things the officials said]

Her remarks were strictly off the record.

Off the record, I don't think he has any real chance of winning.

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Main Entry: ↑record

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ˌoff the ˈrecord idiom

if you tell sb sth off the record, it is not yet official and you do not want them to repeat it publicly

•

Strictly off the record, some members of staff will have to be made redundant.

Main entry: ↑record_idiom