off the mark
off the mark — idiom
1. if a guess, statement, or attempt is off the mark, it is wrong or it does not pr
if a guess, statement, or attempt is off the mark, it is wrong or it does not produce the result that was wanted.
Tamar was way off the mark predicting the election results — her candidate came in third.
be + way off the mark + gerund
Hao’s first math answer was not far off the mark, but his teacher showed him the correct method.
be + not far off the mark, contrast with 'but'
Jack’s estimate of the renovation cost proved completely off the mark — the actual bill was twice as much.
Were Maja’s comments about the team off the mark? Her colleagues disagreed with every point.
- inaccurate
more direct and formal; can describe any type of error
- wide of the mark
a close synonym but slightly less common in everyday speech
- incorrect
focuses on factual wrongness rather than failure to achieve a goal
- on the mark
direct opposite; means accurate or exactly right
- correct
more general and lacks the idiomatic flavour
文法句型
be + off the mark
用法筆記
Commonly used with modifiers such as 'completely', 'way', 'far', or 'not far' to show the degree of inaccuracy